[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 230 (Friday, December 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 84006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26405]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

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


Submission for OMB Review; 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'') has submitted 
to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') a request for 
extension of the previously approved collection of information 
discussed below.
    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 an analysis of fund filings, we estimate that 82% of 
variable contracts that filed annual updates to their registration 
statements use 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.
    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 within 30 days of publication of this notice 
by January 2, 2024 to (i) [email protected] 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: November 27, 2023.
Christina Z. Milnor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-26405 Filed 11-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P