60 Day Notice

77476

Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 232 / Wednesday, December 2, 2020 / Notices

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
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 17f–2 (d), [SEC File No. 270–036,
OMB Control No. 3235–0028]

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’’) is soliciting comments
on the existing collection of information
provided for in Rule 17f–2(d) (17 CFR
240.17f–2(d)), under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et
seq.). The Commission plans to submit
this existing collection of information to
the Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval.
Rule 17f–2(d) requires that records
created pursuant to the fingerprinting
requirements of Section 17(f)(2) of the
Act be maintained and preserved by
every member of a national securities
exchange, broker, dealer, registered
transfer agent and registered clearing
agency (‘‘covered entities’’ or
‘‘respondents’’); permits, under certain
circumstances, the records required to
be maintained and preserved by a
member of a national securities
exchange, broker, or dealer to be
maintained and preserved by a self–
regulatory organization that is also the
designated examining authority for that
member, broker or dealer; and permits
the required records to be preserved on
microfilm. The general purpose for Rule
17f–2 is to: (i) Identify security risk
personnel; (ii) provide criminal record
information so that employers can make
fully informed employment decisions;
and (iii) deter persons with criminal
records from seeking employment or
association with covered entities. The
rule enables the Commission or other
examining authority to ascertain
whether all required persons are being
fingerprinted and whether proper
procedures regarding fingerprinting are
being followed. Retention of these
records for a period of not less than
three years after termination of a
covered person’s employment or
relationship with a covered entity
ensures that law enforcement officials
will have easy access to fingerprint
cards on a timely basis. This in turn acts
as an effective deterrent to employee
misconduct.

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Approximately 3,900 respondents are
subject to the recordkeeping
requirements of the rule. Each
respondent maintains approximately 68
new records per year, each of which
takes approximately 2 minutes per
record to maintain, for an annual
burden of approximately 2.2666667
hours (68 records times 2 minutes). The
total annual time burden for all
respondents is approximately 8,840
hours (3,900 respondents times
2.2666667 hours). As noted above, all
records maintained subject to the rule
must be retained for a period of not less
than three years after termination of a
covered person’s employment or
relationship with a covered entity. In
addition, we estimate the total annual
cost burden to respondents is
approximately $39,000 in third party
storage costs.
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
estimates of the burden of the proposed
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.
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, 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: November 27, 2020.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–26588 Filed 12–1–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange

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Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736
Extension:
Rule 17f–2(c), [SEC File No. 270–035, OMB
Control No. 3235–0029]

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’’) is soliciting comments
on the existing collection of information
provided for in Rule 17f–2(c) (17 CFR
240.17f–2(c)), under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et
seq.). The Commission plans to submit
this existing collection of information to
the Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval.
Rule 17f–2(c) allows persons required
to be fingerprinted pursuant to Section
17(f)(2) of the Act to submit their
fingerprints to the Attorney General of
the United States or its designee (i.e.,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(‘‘FBI’’)) through a registered national
securities exchange or a registered
national securities association
(collectively, also known as ‘‘self–
regulatory organizations’’ or ‘‘SROs’’)
pursuant to a fingerprint plan filed with,
and declared effective by, the
Commission. Fingerprint plans have
been declared effective for the
American, Boston, Chicago, New York,
and Philadelphia stock exchanges and
for the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority (‘‘FINRA’’) and the Chicago
Board Options Exchange. Currently,
FINRA accounts for the bulk of the
fingerprint submissions.
It is estimated that 3,900 respondents
submit approximately 281,804 sets of
fingerprints (consisting of
approximately 253,721 electronic sets
and 28,083 hard copy sets) to SROs on
an annual basis. The Commission
estimates that it would take
approximately 15 minutes to create and
submit each fingerprint card. The total
time burden is therefore estimated to be
approximately 70,451 hours, or
approximately 18 hours per respondent,
annually.
In addition, the SROs charge an
estimated $26 fee for processing
fingerprint cards submitted
electronically, resulting in a total annual
cost to all 3,900 respondents of
approximately $6,596,746 or
approximately $1,691 per respondent
per year. The SROs charge an estimated
$41 fee for processing fingerprint cards
submitted in hard copy, resulting in a
total annual cost to all 3,900
respondents of approximately
$1,151,403, or approximately $295 per
respondent per year. The combined

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