60 Day Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / Notices

the purposes of the Act. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
should be approved or disapproved.

[FR Doc. 2021–21746 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]

IV. Solicitation of Comments

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
• 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–
FINRA–2021–025 on the subject line.

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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–FINRA–2021–025. 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
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing
also will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office of
FINRA. 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–FINRA–
2021–025 and should be submitted on
or before October 26, 2021.

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For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.27
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–263, OMB Control No.
3235–0275]

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 17Ad–13

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 17Ad–13 (17 CFR
240.17Ad–13), 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 17Ad–13 requires certain
registered transfer agents to file
annually with the Commission and the
transfer agent’s appropriate regulatory
authority a report prepared by an
independent accountant on the basis of
a study and evaluation of the transfer
agent’s system of internal accounting
controls for the transfer of record
ownership and the safeguarding of
related securities and funds. If the
independent accountant’s report
specifies any material inadequacy in a
transfer agent’s system, the rule requires
the transfer agent to notify the
Commission and its appropriate
regulatory agency in writing, within
sixty calendar days after the transfer
agent receives the independent
accountant’s report, of any corrective
action taken or proposed to be taken by
the transfer agent. In addition, Rule
17Ad–13 requires that transfer agents
maintain the independent accountant’s
report and any other documents
required by the rule for at least three
years, the first year in an easily
accessible place. These recordkeeping
requirements assist the Commission and
27 17

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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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other regulatory agencies with
monitoring transfer agents and ensuring
compliance with the rule. Small transfer
agents and transfer agents that service
only their own companies’ securities are
exempt from Rule 17Ad–13.
Approximately 100 professional
independent transfer agents must file
with the Commission one report
prepared by an independent accountant
pursuant to Rule 17Ad–13 each year.
Commission staff estimates that, on
average, the annual internal time burden
for each transfer agent to submit the
independent accountant’s report to the
Commission is minimal or zero. The
time required for an independent
accountant to conduct the study and
evaluation of a transfer agent’s system of
internal accounting controls and
complete the report varies depending on
the size and nature of the transfer
agent’s operations. Commission staff
estimates that, on average, each Rule
17Ad–13 report can be completed by the
independent accountant in 120 hours.
In light of Commission staff’s review of
previously filed Rule 17Ad–13 reports
and Commission staff’s conversations
with transfer agents and accountants,
Commission staff estimates that 120
hours are needed to perform the study
and prepare the report on an annual
basis. Commission staff estimates that
the average hourly rate of an
independent accountant is $260,
resulting in an annual external cost
burden of $31,200 for each of the
approximately 100 professional
independent transfer agents. The
aggregate total annual external cost for
the 100 respondents is approximately
$3,120,000.
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 any 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.

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 190 / Tuesday, October 5, 2021 / Notices
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: September 29, 2021.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–21589 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–776, OMB Control No.
3235–0730]

Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736

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Extension:
Form N–PORT

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’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget a
request for extension of the previously
approved collection of information
discussed below.
The title for the collection of
information is ‘‘Form N–PORT under
the Investment Company Act of 1940.’’
Form N–PORT requires funds to report
portfolio holdings information in a
structured, XML format. The form is
filed electronically using the
Commission’s electronic filing system
(Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and
Retrieval or ‘‘EDGAR’’). The purpose of
Form N–PORT is to satisfy the filing and
disclosure requirements of Section 30(b)
of the Investment Company Act, and of
Rule 30b1–9 thereunder.
We estimate that 11980 entities will
be required to submit reports on Form
N–PORT. We estimate that 35% of
funds will file reports on Form N–PORT
in house and the remaining 65% of
funds will retain the services of a third
party to prepare and file reports on
Form N–PORT on the fund’s behalf. The
estimated annual hourly burden
associated with Form N–PORT
1,839,903 hours for an average of 153.6
hours per entity. The total annual
internal time cost associated with Form
N–PORT is $654,658,288. The total
annual external cost associated with
Form N–PORT is $113,858,133.

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The requirements of this collection of
information are mandatory. 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 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 to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom,
Director/Chief Information Officer,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
c/o Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an
email to: [email protected].
Dated: September 29, 2021.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–21588 Filed 10–4–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release Nos. 33–10993; 34–93204; 39–
2541; IC–34392; File No. S7–12–21]

Potential Technical Changes to
EDGAR Filer Access and Filer Account
Management Processes
Securities and Exchange
Commission.
ACTION: Request for comment.
AGENCY:

The Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) is
requesting comment on potential
technical changes related to how
entities and individuals access the
Commission’s Electronic Data
Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval
system (‘‘EDGAR’’) to make
submissions, and how these entities and
individuals (‘‘filers’’) manage the
permissions of individuals who may file
on EDGAR on their behalf. Individuals
who seek to file on EDGAR on behalf of
a filer would be directed to a third-party
service provider to create individual
user account credentials and to enable
multifactor authentication. Each filer
would designate a ‘‘filer
administrator’’—analogous to the
current filer contact person who
receives the filer’s EDGAR access
codes—to manage the permissions of

SUMMARY:

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55029

the filer’s individual users through a
new filer management tool on EDGAR.
DATES: Comments should be received on
or before the later of: December 1, 2021,
or November 4, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted by any of the following
methods:
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
rules/submitcomments.htm); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number S7–
12–21 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments to Vanessa
A. Countryman, Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street
NE, Washington, DC 20549.
All submissions should refer to File
Number S7–12–21. This file number
should be included on the subject line
if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method of submission. The
Commission will post all submitted
comments on our website (http://
www.sec.gov). Typically, comments are
also 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
a.m. and 3 p.m. Operating conditions
may limit access to the Commission’s
Public Reference Room. All comments
received will be posted without change.
Persons submitting comments are
cautioned that the Commission does not
redact or edit personal identifying
information from comment submissions.
Please submit only information that you
wish to make available publicly.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rosemary Filou, Deputy Director and
Chief Counsel; Daniel Chang, Senior
Special Counsel; EDGAR Business
Office, at 202–551–3900, Securities and
Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
Commission is seeking public comment
on potential technical changes to the
EDGAR access process that include the
addition of individual user account
credentials as well as a tool on EDGAR
through which filers would manage
their EDGAR accounts. During the
comment period, the Commission will
open an EDGAR ‘‘Beta’’ environment
where pre-enrolled EDGAR filers may
preview and test many of the potential
access changes. The Commission plans
to provide more information regarding

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