[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 185 (Tuesday, September 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 66073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20906]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-813, OMB Control No. 3235-0765]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 498A

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 (``Paperwork Reduction Act'') (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'') is soliciting 
comments on the collections of information summarized below. The 
Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to 
the Office of Management and Budget for extension and approval.
    Rule 498A under the Securities Act permits a person to satisfy its 
prospectus delivery obligations under Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities 
Act for a contract by: (1) sending or giving to new investors key 
information contained in a variable contract statutory prospectus in 
the form of an initial summary prospectus; (2) sending or giving to 
existing investors each year a brief description of certain changes to 
the contract, and a subset of the information in the initial summary 
prospectus, in the form of an updating summary prospectus; and (3) 
providing the statutory prospectus and other materials online. Rule 
498A considers a person to have met its prospectus delivery obligations 
for any portfolio companies associated with a variable contract if the 
portfolio company prospectuses are posted online. Under the rule, a 
registrant (or the financial intermediary distributing the variable 
contract) relying on the rule must send the variable contract statutory 
prospectus (that statutory prospectus must be filed as part of 
registration statement on Form N-3, N-4, or N-6, as applicable) and 
other materials to an investor in paper or electronic format upon 
request.
    Based on current EDGAR data, 82% of variable contracts that filed 
annual updates to their registration statements filed at least one 
summary prospectus under rule 498A. In the aggregate, the Commission 
staff estimates the total annual hour burden to comply with Rule 498A 
to be 7,634 hours, at an internal time cost equivalent of $2,337,471, 
and a total annual external cost burden of $9,094,866.
    The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate is based on 
communications with industry representatives, and is not derived from a 
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study. Responses will 
not be kept confidential. 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.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Commission, including whether the information 
shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's 
estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology. Consideration will 
be given to comments and suggestions submitted by November 27, 2023.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Please direct your written comments to: David Bottom, Acting 
Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, 
c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or send an 
email to: [email protected].

    Dated: September 21, 2023.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-20906 Filed 9-25-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P