60 day notice

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 85 / Friday, May 1, 2020 / Notices
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION

Electronic Comments

[SEC File No. 270–505, OMB Control No.
3235–0562]

• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NYSEAMER–2020–33 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to: Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEAMER–2020–33. This
file number should be included on the
subject line if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review your
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
internet website (http://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for website viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549 on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change.
Persons submitting comments are
cautioned that we do not redact or edit
personal identifying information from
comment submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish
to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEAMER–2020–33 and
should be submitted on or before May
22, 2020.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.26
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–09253 Filed 4–30–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
26 17

CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

VerDate Sep<11>2014

08:07 May 01, 2020

Jkt 250001

Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736.
Extension: Rule 17d–1.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities
and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the collections of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit these existing
collections of information to the Office
of Management and Budget for
extension and approval.
Section 17(d) (15 U.S.C. 80a–17(d)) of
the Investment Company Act of 1940
(15 U.S.C. 80a et seq.) (the ‘‘Act’’)
prohibits first- and second-tier affiliates
of a fund, the fund’s principal
underwriters, and affiliated persons of
the fund’s principal underwriters, acting
as principal, to effect any transaction in
which the fund or a company controlled
by the fund is a joint or a joint and
several participant in contravention of
the Commission’s rules. Rule 17d–1 (17
CFR 270.17d–1) prohibits an affiliated
person of or principal underwriter for
any fund (a ‘‘first-tier affiliate’’), or any
affiliated person of such person or
underwriter (a ‘‘second-tier affiliate’’),
acting as principal, from participating in
or effecting any transaction in
connection with a joint enterprise or
other joint arrangement in which the
fund is a participant, unless prior to
entering into the enterprise or
arrangement ‘‘an application regarding
[the transaction] has been filed with the
Commission and has been granted by an
order.’’ In reviewing the proposed
affiliated transaction, the rule provides
that the Commission will consider
whether the proposal is (i) consistent
with the provisions, policies, and
purposes of the Act, and (ii) on a basis
different from or less advantageous than
that of other participants in determining
whether to grant an exemptive
application for a proposed joint
enterprise, joint arrangement, or profitsharing plan.
Rule 17d–1 also contains a number of
exceptions to the requirement that a
fund must obtain Commission approval
prior to entering into joint transactions
or arrangements with affiliates. For

PO 00000

Frm 00103

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

25485

example, funds do not have to obtain
Commission approval for certain
employee compensation plans, certain
tax-deferred employee benefit plans,
certain transactions involving small
business investment companies, the
receipt of securities or cash by certain
affiliates pursuant to a plan of
reorganization, certain arrangements
regarding liability insurance policies
and transactions with ‘‘portfolio
affiliates’’ (companies that are affiliated
with the fund solely as a result of the
fund (or an affiliated fund) controlling
them or owning more than five percent
of their voting securities) so long as
certain other affiliated persons of the
fund (e.g., the fund’s adviser, persons
controlling the fund, and persons under
common control with the fund) are not
parties to the transaction and do not
have a ‘‘financial interest’’ in a party to
the transaction. The rule excludes from
the definition of ‘‘financial interest’’ any
interest that the fund’s board of
directors (including a majority of the
directors who are not interested persons
of the fund) finds to be not material, as
long as the board records the basis for
its finding in their meeting minutes.
Thus, the rule contains two filing and
recordkeeping requirements that
constitute collections of information.
First, rule 17d–1 requires funds that
wish to engage in a joint transaction or
arrangement with affiliates to meet the
procedural requirements for obtaining
exemptive relief from the rule’s
prohibition on joint transactions or
arrangements involving first- or secondtier affiliates. Second, rule 17d–1
permits a portfolio affiliate to enter into
a joint transaction or arrangement with
the fund if a prohibited participant has
a financial interest that the fund’s board
determines is not material and records
the basis for this finding in their
meeting minutes. These requirements of
rule 17d–1 are designed to prevent fund
insiders from managing funds for their
own benefit, rather than for the benefit
of the funds’ shareholders.
Based on an analysis of past filings,
Commission staff estimates that 23
funds file applications under section
17(d) and rule 17d–1 per year. The staff
understands that funds that file an
application generally obtain assistance
from outside counsel to prepare the
application. The cost burden of using
outside counsel is discussed below. The
Commission staff estimates that each
applicant will spend an average of 154
hours to comply with the Commission’s
applications process. The Commission
staff therefore estimates the annual
burden hours per year for all funds
under rule 17d–1’s application process
to be 3,542 hours at a cost of

E:\FR\FM\01MYN1.SGM

01MYN1

25486

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 85 / Friday, May 1, 2020 / Notices

$1,528,120.1 The Commission,
therefore, requests authorization to
increase the inventory of total burden
hours per year for all funds under rule
17d–1 from the current authorized
burden of 2002 hours to 3,542 hours.
The increase is due to an increase in the
number of funds that filed applications
for exemptions under rule 17d–1.
As noted above, the Commission staff
understands that funds that file an
application under rule 17d–1 generally
use outside counsel to assist in
preparing the application. The staff
estimates that, on average, funds spend
an additional $93,131 for outside legal
services in connection with seeking
Commission approval of affiliated joint
transactions. Thus, the staff estimates
that the total annual cost burden
imposed by the exemptive application
requirements of rule 17d–1 is
$2,142,013.2
We estimate that funds currently do
not rely on the exemption from the term
‘‘financial interest’’ with respect to any
interest that the fund’s board of
directors (including a majority of the
directors who are not interested persons
of the fund) finds to be not material.
Accordingly, we estimate that annually
there will be no transactions under rule
17d–1 that will result in this aspect of
the collection of information.
Based on these calculations, the total
annual hour burden is estimated to be
3,542 hours and the total annual cost
burden is estimated to be $2,142,013.
The estimate of average burden hours
is made solely for the purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate
is not derived from a comprehensive or
even a representative survey or study of
the costs of Commission rules.
Complying with these collections of
information requirement is necessary to
obtain the benefit of relying on rule
17d–1. Responses will not be kept
confidential. An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
1 The

Commission staff estimates that a senior
executive, such as the fund’s chief compliance
officer, will spend an average of 62 hours and a
mid-level compliance attorney will spend an
average of 92 hours to comply with this collection
of information: 62 hours + 92 hours = 154 hours.
23 funds × 154 burden hours = 3,542 burden hours.
The Commission staff estimate that the chief
compliance officer is paid $530 per hour and the
compliance attorney is paid $365 per hour. ($530
per hour × 62 hours) + ($365 per hour × 92 hours)
= $66,440 per fund. $66,440 × 23 funds =
$1,528,120. The $530 and $365 per hour figures are
based on salary information compiled by SIFMA’s
Management & Professional Earnings in the
Securities Industry, 2019. The Commission staff has
modified SIFMA’s information to account for an
1800-hour work year and inflation, and multiplied
by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee
benefits, and overhead.
2 The estimate is based on the following
calculation: $93,131 × 23 funds = $2,142,013.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

08:07 May 01, 2020

Jkt 250001

required to respond to, a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid 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
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’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
in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments
to David Bottom, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, C/O Cynthia
Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington,
DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_
[email protected].
Dated: April 28, 2020.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–09295 Filed 4–30–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–513, OMB Control No.
3235–0571]

Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736
Extension:
Rule 206(4)–6

Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the
‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the collections of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit these existing
collections of information to the Office
of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
The title for the collection of
information is ‘‘Rule 206(4)–6’’ under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15
U.S.C. 80b–1 et seq.) (‘‘Advisers Act’’)
and the collection has been approved
under OMB Control No. 3235–0571. The

PO 00000

Frm 00104

Fmt 4703

Sfmt 4703

Commission adopted rule 206(4)–6 (17
CFR 275.206(4)–6), the proxy voting
rule, to address an investment adviser’s
fiduciary obligation to clients who have
given the adviser authority to vote their
securities. Under the rule, an
investment adviser that exercises voting
authority over client securities is
required to: (i) Adopt and implement
written policies and procedures that are
reasonably designed to ensure that the
adviser votes client securities in the best
interest of clients, including procedures
to address any material conflict that
may arise between the interests of the
adviser and the client; (ii) disclose to
clients how they may obtain
information from the adviser on how the
adviser has voted with respect to their
securities; and (iii) describe to clients
the adviser’s proxy voting policies and
procedures and, on request, furnish a
copy of the policies and procedures to
the requesting client. The rule is
designed to assure that advisers that
vote proxies for their clients vote those
proxies in their clients’ best interest and
provide clients with information about
how their proxies were voted.
Rule 206(4)–6 contains ‘‘collection of
information’’ requirements within the
meaning of the Paperwork Reduction
Act. The respondents are investment
advisers registered with the Commission
that vote proxies with respect to clients’
securities. Advisory clients of these
investment advisers use the information
required by the rule to assess
investment advisers’ proxy voting
policies and procedures and to monitor
the advisers’ performance of their proxy
voting activities. The information
required by Adviser’s Act rule 204–2, a
recordkeeping rule, also is used by the
Commission staff in its examination and
oversight program. Without the
information collected under the rules,
advisory clients would not have
information they need to assess the
adviser’s services and monitor the
adviser’s handling of their accounts, and
the Commission would be less efficient
and effective in its programs.
The estimated number of investment
advisers subject to the collection of
information requirements under the rule
is 12,265. It is estimated that each of
these advisers is required to spend on
average 10 hours annually documenting
its proxy voting procedures under the
requirements of the rule, for a total
burden of 122,650 hours. We further
estimate that on average, approximately
279 clients of each adviser would
request copies of the underlying policies
and procedures. We estimate that it
would take these advisers 0.1 hours per
client to deliver copies of the policies
and procedures, for a total burden of

E:\FR\FM\01MYN1.SGM

01MYN1