[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44180-44181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14515]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-540, OMB Control No. 3235-0600]


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 611

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 
20549-2736

    Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') a request for approval of extension of the 
previously approved collection of information provided for in Rule 611 
(17 CFR 242.611) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 
78a et seq.) (``Exchange Act'').
    On June 9, 2005, effective August 29, 2005 (see 70 FR 37496, June 
29, 2005), the Commission adopted Rule 611 of Regulation NMS under the 
Exchange Act to require any national securities exchange, national 
securities association, alternative trading system, exchange market 
maker, over-the-counter market maker, and any other broker-dealer that 
executes orders internally by trading as principal or crossing orders 
as agent, to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and 
procedures reasonably designed to prevent the execution of a 
transaction in its market at a price that is inferior to a bid or offer 
displayed in another market at the time of execution (a ``trade-
though''), absent an applicable exception and, if relying on an 
exception, that are reasonably designed to assure compliance with the 
terms of the exception. Without this collection of information, 
respondents would not have a means to enforce compliance with the 
Commission's intention to prevent trade-throughs pursuant to the rule.
    There are approximately 235 respondents \1\ per year that will 
require an aggregate total of approximately 14,100 hours per year to 
comply with this Rule. It is anticipated that each respondent will 
continue to expend approximately 60 hours annually: two hours per month 
of internal legal time and three hours per month of internal compliance 
time to ensure that its written policies and procedures are up-to-date 
and remain in compliance with Rule 611. The estimated cost for an in-
house attorney is $489 per hour and the estimated cost for an assistant 
compliance director in the securities industry is $432 per hour. 
Therefore the estimated total internal cost of compliance for the 
annual hour burden is as follows: [(2 legal hours x 12 months x $489) x 
235] + [(3 compliance hours x 12 months x $432) x 235] = $6,412,680.\2\
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    \1\ This estimate includes 16 national securities exchanges that 
are equity securities exchanges. The estimate also includes an 
estimated 187 firms that are over-the-counter market makers or 
exchange market makers, as well as an estimated 32 alternative 
trading systems that trade NMS stocks.
    \2\ The total cost of compliance for the annual hour burden has 
been revised to reflect updated estimated cost figures for an in-
house attorney and an assistant compliance director. These figures 
are from SIFMA's Management & Professional Earnings in the 
Securities Industry 2017, modified by Commission staff for an 1800-
hour work-year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm 
size, employee benefits, and overhead, and then adjusted for 
inflation.
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    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a 
currently valid OMB control number.

[[Page 44181]]

    The public may view background documentation for this information 
collection at the following website: www.reginfo.gov. Find this 
particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day 
Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. 
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent by August 10, 2023 to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information 
Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: 
[email protected].

    Dated: July 5, 2023.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-14515 Filed 7-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P