60 Day Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 240 / Friday, December 17, 2021 / Notices

Europe. ICE Clear Europe will notify the
Commission of any comments received
with respect to the proposed rule
change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 11 and paragraph (f) of Rule
19b–4 12 thereunder. At any time within
60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
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:

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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–
ICEEU–2021–023 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–ICEEU–2021–023. 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
11 15
12 17

U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f).

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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 such
filings will also be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of ICE Clear Europe and on ICE
Clear Europe’s website at https://
www.theice.com/clear-europe/
regulation.
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–ICEEU–2021–023
and should be submitted on or before
January 7, 2022.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.13
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–27309 Filed 12–16–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–135, OMB Control No.
3235–0175]

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:
Form N–8A

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 collection of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit this existing collection
of information to the Office of
Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
The Investment Company Act of 1940
(‘‘Investment Company Act’’) (15 U.S.C.
80a–1 et seq.) requires investment
companies to register with the
Commission before they conduct any
business in interstate commerce.
Section 8(a) of the Investment Company
Act provides that an investment
company shall be deemed to be
registered upon receipt by the
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Commission of a notification of
registration in such form as the
Commission prescribes. Form N–8A (17
CFR 274.10) is the form for notification
of registration that the Commission has
adopted under section 8(a). The purpose
of such notification of registration
provided on Form N–8A is to notify the
Commission of the existence of
investment companies required to be
registered under the Investment
Company Act and to enable the
Commission to administer the
provisions of the Investment Company
Act with respect to those companies.
After an investment company has filed
its notification of registration under
section 8(a), the company is then subject
to the provisions of the Investment
Company Act which govern certain
aspects of its organization and activities,
such as the composition of its board of
directors and the issuance of senior
securities. Form N–8A requires an
investment company to provide its
name, state of organization, form of
organization, classification, the name
and address of each investment adviser
of the investment company, the current
value of its total assets, and certain
other information readily available to
the investment company. If the
investment company is filing a
registration statement as required by
Section 8(b) of the Investment Company
Act concurrently with its notification of
registration, Form N–8A requires only
that the registrant file the cover page
(giving its name, address, and agent for
service of process) and sign the form in
order to effect registration.
Based on recent filings of notifications
of registration on Form N–8A, we
estimate that about 101 investment
companies file such notifications each
year. An investment company must only
file a notification of registration on
Form N–8A once. The currently
approved average hour burden per
investment company of preparing and
filing a notification of registration on
Form N–8A is one hour. Based on the
Commission staff’s experience with the
requirements of Form N–8A and with
disclosure documents generally—and
considering that investment companies
that are filing notifications of
registration on Form N–8A
simultaneously with the registration
statement under the Investment
Company Act are only required by Form
N–8A to file a signed cover page—we
continue to believe that this estimate is
appropriate. Therefore, we estimate that
the total annual hour burden to prepare
and file notifications of registration on
Form N–8A is 101 hours. The currently
approved cost burden of Form N–8A is

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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 240 / Friday, December 17, 2021 / Notices
$449. We are updating the estimated
costs burden to $496 to account for the
effects of inflation. Therefore, we
estimate that the total annual cost
burden associated with preparing and
filing notifications of registration on
Form N–8A is about $50,096.
Estimates of average burden hours
and costs are made solely for the
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction
Act, and are not derived from a
comprehensive or even representative
survey or study of the costs of
Commission rules and forms.
Compliance with the collection of
information requirements of Form N–8A
is mandatory. Responses to the
collection of information 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 collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Commission,
including whether the information has
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 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 John R.
Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington,
DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_
[email protected].
Dated: December 13, 2021.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–27290 Filed 12–16–21; 8:45 am]

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–93758; File No. SR–FINRA–
2021–031]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed
Rule Change To Extend the Expiration
Date of Temporary Amendments Set
Forth in SR–FINRA–2020–015 and SR–
FINRA–2020–027
December 13, 2021.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on December
7, 2021, the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority, Inc. (‘‘FINRA’’)
filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)
the proposed rule change as described
in Items I and II below, which Items
have been prepared by FINRA. FINRA
has designated the proposed rule change
as constituting a ‘‘non-controversial’’
rule change under paragraph (f)(6) of
Rule 19b–4 under the Act,3 which
renders the proposal effective upon
receipt of this filing by the Commission.
The Commission is publishing this
notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change from interested
persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
FINRA is proposing to extend the
expiration date of the temporary
amendments set forth in SR–FINRA–
2020–015 and SR–FINRA–2020–027
from December 31, 2021, to March 31,
2022.4 The proposed rule change would
not make any changes to the text of
FINRA rules.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on FINRA’s website at
http://www.finra.org, at the principal
office of FINRA and at the
Commission’s Public Reference Room.

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
1 15

U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6).
4 If FINRA seeks to provide additional temporary
relief from the rule requirements identified in this
proposed rule change beyond March 31, 2022,
FINRA will submit a separate rule filing to further
extend the temporary extension of time. The
amended FINRA rules will revert to their original
form at the conclusion of the temporary relief
period and any extension thereof.

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II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission,
FINRA included statements concerning
the purpose of and basis for the
proposed rule change and discussed any
comments it received on the proposed
rule change. The text of these statements
may be examined at the places specified
in Item IV below. FINRA has prepared
summaries, set forth in sections A, B,
and C below, of the most significant
aspects of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
In response to the COVID–19 global
health crisis and the corresponding
need to restrict in-person activities,
FINRA filed proposed rule changes, SR–
FINRA–2020–015 and SR–FINRA–
2020–027, which respectively provide
temporary relief from some timing,
method of service and other procedural
requirements in FINRA rules and allow
FINRA’s Office of Hearing Officers
(‘‘OHO’’) and the National Adjudicatory
Council (‘‘NAC’’) to conduct hearings,
on a temporary basis, by video
conference, if warranted by the current
COVID–19-related public health risks
posed by an in-person hearing. In
August 2021, FINRA filed a proposed
rule change, SR–FINRA–2021–019, to
extend the expiration date of the
temporary amendments in both SR–
FINRA–2020–015 and SR–FINRA–
2020–027 from August 31, 2021, to
December 31, 2021.5
While there are signs of improvement,
much uncertainty remains for the
coming months. The presence of the
Delta variant, dissimilar vaccination
rates throughout the United States, and
the uptick in transmissions in many
locations indicate that COVID–19
remains an active and real public health
concern.6 Due to the uncertainty and the
5 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 92685
(August 17, 2021), 86 FR 47169 (August 23, 2021)
(Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
File No. SR–FINRA–2021–019).
6 For example, President Joe Biden on July 29,
2021, announced several measures to increase the
number of people vaccinated against COVID–19 and
to slow the spread of the Delta variant, including
strengthening safety protocols for federal
government employees and contractors. See https://
www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statementsreleases/2021/07/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-toannounce-new-actions-to-get-more-americansvaccinated-and-slow-the-spread-of-the-deltavariant/. Thereafter, the Biden Administration
announced on November 4, 2021, details of two

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