60 Day Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 9 / Thursday, January 13, 2022 / Notices
experience material costs when they are
not able to retain qualified experienced
persons because of professional and
personal events that require such
individuals to take an extended leave of
absence from the industry.
As noted above, the population of
FINRA-registered persons is
approximately 620,000 individuals.29 In
recent years, out of the approximately
620,000 individuals, approximately
90,000 individuals end their registration
with all firms with which they are
registered at some point during the year.
Out of these, approximately half do not
reregister and are considered to have left
the securities industry.
Economic Impacts
FINRA previously considered the
economic impacts of the MQP.30 As
discussed above, the proposed fee of
$100 will permit recovery of the costs
for the development, maintenance and
delivery of the MQP content and the
systems and operational costs of
establishing and managing the MQP.
The proposed fee will also provide for
a contribution to FINRA’s overall
regulatory operations.
The proposed $100 annual fee is
imposed on individuals following the
termination of a registration category.31
As such, FINRA anticipates that the
proposed fee will not impose costs on
member firms.
Participating in the MQP is voluntary,
so individuals will pay the fee when the
anticipated benefits outweigh the costs.
Potential beneficiaries are not limited to
individuals who under the current
baseline requalify and reregister
between two and five years after their
registrations are terminated. Some
individuals who currently do not
terminate their registrations, and others
who terminate their registrations and
never reregister, may also benefit from
the option provided by the MQP and
paying the proposed $100 fee.

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Alternatives Considered
In establishing the proposed fee,
FINRA sought to minimize the burden
to individuals who would elect to
participate in the MQP while covering
program costs and maintaining the
Representative registrations, could range from $600
to $680 (for the SIE, Series 7 and Series 79). The
qualification examination fees used in the examples
above are based on the revised fees that will go into
effect on January 1, 2022. See supra note 15.
29 See 2020 FINRA Industry Snapshot, available
at https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/2020-07/
2020-industry-snapshot.pdf.
30 See supra note 23.
31 In the event of a partial termination, some firms
may determine to reimburse individuals who elect
to remain qualified for a terminated registration
through the MQP.

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contribution of the testing and CE
programs to FINRA’s overall regulatory
operations. FINRA considered a range of
possible fees and found that the
proposed fee and annual revenue come
within narrow ranges of meeting these
goals.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
Written comments were neither
solicited nor received.
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 32 and paragraph (f)(2) of Rule
19b–4 thereunder.33 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. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
should be approved or disapproved.
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:
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–2021–034 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–FINRA–2021–034. 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/
32 15
33 17

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U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).

Frm 00072

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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 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–
2021–034 and should be submitted on
or before February 3, 2022.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.34
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022–00490 Filed 1–12–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–512, OMB Control No.
3235–0570]

Proposed Collection; Comment
Request; Extension: Form N–CSR
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
(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.
Form N–CSR (17 CFR 249.331 and
274.128) is a combined reporting form
34 17

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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 9 / Thursday, January 13, 2022 / Notices

used by registered management
investment companies (‘‘funds’’) to file
certified shareholder reports under the
Investment Company Act of 1940 (15
U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) (‘‘Investment
Company Act’’) and the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et
seq.) (‘‘Exchange Act’’). Specifically,
Form N–CSR is to be used for reports
under section 30(b)(2) of the Investment
Company Act (15 U.S.C. 80a–29(b)(2))
and section 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a) and
78o(d)), filed pursuant to rule 30b2–1(a)
under the Investment Company Act (17

CFR 270.30b2–1(a)). Reports on Form
N–CSR are to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) no later than 10 days
after the transmission to stockholders of
any report that is required to be
transmitted to stockholders under rule
30e–1 under the Investment Company
Act (17 CFR 270.30e–1). The
information filed with the Commission
permits the verification of compliance
with securities law requirements and
assures the public availability and
dissemination of the information.

The current total annual burden hour
inventory for Form N–CSR is 181,167
hours.1 The hour burden estimates for
preparing and filing reports on Form N–
CSR are based on the Commission’s
experience with the contents of the
form. The number of burden hours may
vary depending on, among other things,
the complexity of the filing and whether
preparation of the reports is performed
by internal staff or outside counsel.
The Commission’s new estimate of
burden hours that will be imposed by
Form N–CSR is as follows:

TABLE 1—SUMMARY OF REVISED BURDEN HOURS FOR REPORTS ON FORM N–CSR
Funds and filings
Number of funds

Number of annual
filings

Number of total
filings

Hour burden per
fund per filing

Total annual hour
burden

(A)

(B)

(C) = (A) × (B)

(D)

(E) = (C) × (D)

2 14,654

2

29,308

7.75

227,137

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Form N–CSR .........................................

In total, the Commission estimates it
will take 227,137 burden hours per year
for all funds to prepare and file reports
on Form N–CSR. Commission staff
estimates that the annual cost of outside
services associated with Form N–CSR is
approximately $203 per fund and the
total annual external cost burden for
Form N–CSR is $5,949,524.3
Estimates of average burden hours
and costs are made solely for 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 information
collection requirements of Form N–CSR
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
1 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: 179,443 (previous burden estimate) +
1,724.5 (additional internal burden) = 181,167.5
hours.

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Annual time burden (hours)

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].
All submissions should refer to File
Number 270–512. This file number
should be included on the subject line
if email is used. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
internet website (http://www.sec.gov).
All comments received will be posted
without change; we do not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly.
Dated: January 10, 2022.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022–00589 Filed 1–12–22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

2 This estimate is based on the number of
registered management companies as calculated by
the filing type: 1,403 N–1A registrants (13,248
funds); 693 N–2 registrants (691 funds); 5 N–3
registrants (14 funds); 417 N–4 registrants (418

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–792; OMB Control No.
3235–0739]

Proposed Collection; Comment
Request; Extension: Order Granting a
Conditional Exemption Under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 From
the Confirmation Requirements of
Exchange Act Rule 10b–10(a) for
Certain Transactions in Money Market
Funds
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: U.S. 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
(‘‘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 the Order Granting a
Conditional Exemption under the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 from
the Confirmation Requirements of
Exchange Act Rule 10b–10(a) for Certain
Transactions in Money Market Funds
(17 CFR 240.10b–10(a)). The
Commission plans to submit this
existing collection of information to the
Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval.
funds); 235 N–6 registrants (236 funds); 47 N–8B–
2 registrants (47 funds).
3 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: 14,654 funds × $203 per filing × 2
filings per year = $5,949,524.

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