Supporting Statement_Interactive Data_RILA

OMB CONTROL NUMBER 3235-0642

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
for the Paperwork Reduction Act Information Collection Submission for
Investment Company Interactive Data
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Necessity for the Information Collection
Certain funds have current requirements to submit to the Commission information
included in their registration statements, or information included in or amended by any
post-effective amendments to such registration statements, in response to certain form
items in structured data language (“Investment Company Interactive Data”). 1 This also
includes the requirement for funds to submit interactive data to the Commission for any
form of prospectus filed pursuant to 17 CFR 230.497(c) or 17 CFR 230.497(e) under the
Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) [15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.] that includes
information in response to certain form items. This collection of information relates to
regulations and forms adopted under the Securities Act, and the Investment Company Act
of 1940 (“Investment Company Act”) [15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.] that set forth disclosure
requirements for funds and other issuers.
The Commission recently adopted rule and form amendments for RILAs. 2 In a
change from the proposal, the Commission also adopted amendments to extend the
registration, filing, and disclosure approach for RILAs to annuity contracts that offer

1

The paperwork burdens for the rules under section 8(b) of the Investment Company Act are
imposed through the forms and reports that are subject to the requirements in these rules and are
reflected in the PRA burdens of those documents.

2

See Registration for Index-Linked Annuities and Registered Market Value Adjustment Annuities;
Amendments to Form N-4 for Index-Linked Annuities, Registered Market Value Adjustment
Annuities, and Variable Annuities; Other Technical Amendments, Investment Company Act
Release No. 35273 (July 1, 2024), available at https://www.sec.gov/rulesregulations/2024/07/rila#33-11294final (“Adopting Release”).

fixed investment options and apply market-value adjustments (“MVAs”) to amounts
withdrawn from a fixed option before the end of the fixed option’s term, where the
offering is required to be registered with the Commission because of the MVA
(“registered MVA annuities” and, collectively with RILAs, “non-variable annuities” or
“non-variable annuity contracts”).
Issuers of variable annuities registered on Form N-4 are currently required to tag
certain registration statement disclosure items using Inline XBRL. The proposed
amendments to Form N-4 and Rule 405 of Regulation S-T would require similar
structured data requirements for non-variable annuity issuers. Although non-variable
annuity issuers are not investment companies, the proposed amendments are designed to
require the same structured data framework for non-variable annuities as for variable
annuities that file on Form N-4. Under the proposed amendments, non-variable annuity
issuers would be required to tag specified information in registration statements filed on
Form N-4 or post-effective amendments thereto, as well as in forms of prospectuses filed
pursuant to rule 497(c) or 497(e) under the Securities Act that include information that
varies from the registration statement using Inline XBRL.
2. Purpose and Use of the Information Collection
The purpose of the Investment Company Interactive Data requirements is to make
information easier for investors to analyze, and to assist in automating regulatory filings
and business information processing. Requiring registrants to use Inline eXtensible
Business Reporting Language or “Inline XBRL” to tag disclosures will improve the
data’s usefulness, timeliness, and quality, benefiting investors and other market

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participants, and to decrease, over time, the cost of preparing the data for submission to
the Commission.
Likewise, the purpose of the proposed amendments to Form N-4 and Rule 405 of
Regulation S-T is to make information regarding non-variable annuities that is disclosed
on Form N-4 easier for investors to analyze, to help automate regulatory filings and
business information processing, and to improve consistency across all types of
investment products offered on Form N-4 with respect to the accessibility of information
to the market.
3. Consideration Given to Information Technology
The Commission’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (or
“EDGAR”) provides for automated filing, processing, and dissemination of full
disclosure filings. This automation has increased the speed, accuracy, and availability of
information, generating benefits to investors and financial markets. Interactive data
required by this collection of information is required to be filed with the Commission
electronically on EDGAR.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The Commission periodically evaluates rule-based reporting and recordkeeping
requirements for duplication and reevaluates them whenever it proposes a rule or a form,
or a change in either. The Investment Company Interactive Data requirements generally
are not duplicated elsewhere.
The proposed amendments would not require duplicative reporting or recordkeeping.
Currently, insurance companies that register non-variable annuities on Forms S-1 and S-3
and that file GAAP financial statements must tag them using Inline XBRL. Instead of
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registering on Forms S-1 and S-3 and complying with those associated structured data
requirements, insurance companies would be required to register non-variable annuities
on Form N-4 and comply with the structured data requirements associated with that form.
5. Effect on Small Entities
The Commission reviews all rules periodically, as required by the Regulatory
Flexibility Act, to identify methods to minimize recordkeeping or reporting requirements
affecting small businesses. 3 The burden on small entities to prepare and then submit
Investment Company Interactive Data may be proportionally greater than for larger
registrants. This burden may include the cost of software designed to prepare information
in interactive data format and hiring a consultant or filing agent to prepare and file the
information in interactive data format. The Commission believes, however, that imposing
different requirements on smaller funds would not be consistent with investor protection
and the purposes of the Investment Company Interactive Data requirements. 4
Likewise, the proposed amendments to Form N-4 and Rule 405 of Regulation S-T
would not distinguish between small entities and other non-variable annuities. 5 Based on
a review of EDGAR filings of existing non-variable annuity issuers, we do not expect
that any non-variable annuity issuers will be treated as small entities.

3

5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.

4

Generally, for purposes of the Investment Company Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, an
investment company is a small entity if, together with other investment companies in the same group
of related investment companies, it has net assets of $50 million or less as of the end of its most recent
fiscal year. See 17 CFR 270.0-10(a).

5

Generally, for purposes of the Securities Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act, an issuer, other than
an investment company, will be considered a small entity if it has net assets of $5 million or less as of
the end of its most recent fiscal year, and the issuer’s offering does not exceed $5 million. See 17 CFR
230.157.

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6. Consequences of Not Conducting Collection
If the specified information were not required in interactive data format, the
information would be available through the Commission only as part of a registration
statement, post-effective amendment, form of prospectus filing, or periodic report itself.
The use of interactive data format assists issuers in automating regulatory filings and
business information processing. If interactive data format information were required less
frequently, less information would appear in that format and, as a result, the interactive
data file requirement would be less likely to facilitate its intended purposes and achieve
its expected benefits. Failure to conduct the collection of information that would be
required by the proposed amendments could frustrate the Commission’s intent to improve
the data’s quality (benefiting investors, other market participants, and other data users)
and to decrease, over time, the cost of preparing the data for submission to the
Commission.
The same considerations that apply to funds would also apply to non-variable
annuities that would be required to tag the proposed Form N-4 disclosure requirements
for non-variable annuities. Requiring RILAs to use Inline XBRL to tag the specified
disclosures in Form N-4 would benefit investors, other market participants, and the
Commission by making the disclosures more readily available and easily accessible for
aggregation, comparison, filtering, and other analysis. The proposed tagging
requirements would result in information being tagged that would best permit investors
and other data users to analyze and compare non-variable annuities. This would allow
investors and other market participants more efficiently to perform large-scale analysis

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and comparison across non-variable annuities (including the index-linked options that
different non-variable annuities offer) and time periods.
7. Inconsistencies with Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)
This collection is not inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
Before adopting the final amendments to Form N-4 and Rule 405 of Regulation S-T,
the Commission solicited and evaluated public comments on the proposal and its
collection of information requirements. Specifically, the public was given the opportunity
to comment on the Commission’s estimates for the burden of Form N-4 and Rule 405 as
proposed and as compared to the existing approved burden inventory in the proposing
release for the amendments. 6 The Commission did not receive any comments regarding
its PRA estimates for this aspect of the proposal. In addition, the Commission and the
staff of the Division of Investment Management participate in an ongoing dialogue with
representatives of the investment company industry through public conferences,
meetings, and informal exchanges. These various forums provide the Commission and
staff with a means of ascertaining and acting upon paperwork burdens confronting the
industry. The Commission’s solicitation of public comments included estimating and
requesting public comments on the burden estimates for all information collections under
this OMB control number (i.e., both changes associated with the rulemaking and other
burden updates).

6

See Registration for Index-Linked Annuities; Amendments to Form N-4 for Index-Linked and
Variable Annuities, Investment Company Act Release No. 35028 (Sept. 29, 2023) (“Proposing
Release”), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/proposed/2023/33-11250.pdf.

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9. Payment or Gift
Not applicable.
10. Confidentiality
Not applicable.
11. Sensitive Questions
No information of a sensitive nature, including social security numbers, will be
required under this collection of information. The information collection collects basic
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that may include names, job titles and work
addresses. However, the agency has determined that the information collection does not
constitute a system of record for purposes of the Privacy Act. Information is not retrieved
by a personal identifier. In accordance with Section 208 of the E-Government Act of
2002, the agency has conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) of the EDGAR
system, in connection with this collection of information. The EDGAR PIA, published on
March 22, 2023, is provided as a supplemental document and is also available at
https://www.sec.gov/privacy.
12. Estimate of Hour and Cost Burden of Information Collection
The following estimates of average burden hours and costs are made solely for
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 7 and are not derived from a
comprehensive or even representative survey or study of the cost of Commission rules
and forms. Compliance with the Investment Company Interactive Data requirements is
mandatory. Responses to the disclosure requirements will not be kept confidential.

7

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

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In our most recent Paperwork Reduction Act submission for the Investment Company
Interactive Data collection of information, we estimated a total annual hour burden of
328,139 hours, and a total annual external cost burden of $16,838,400. 8 Compliance with
the interactive data requirements is mandatory, and the responses will not be confidential.
The table below summarizes our PRA estimates for the burdens associated with the
proposed tagging requirements that would apply to non-variable annuities that file with
the Commission on Form N-4.

8

This estimate is based on the last time the PRA renewal for the Investment Company Interactive Data
information collection was approved on January 23, 2024. See ICR Reference No: 202309-3235-020,
available at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202309-3235-020.

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Table 1: Investment Company Interactive Data – PRA ESTIMATES
Internal
initial
burden
hours

Internal annual
burden hours1

Wage rate2

Internal time
costs

Annual external
cost burden

$406

$505

FINAL ESTIMATED BURDENS
$406
Final disclosures for
current N-4 filers3

1 hour

1 hour4

(blended rate for
compliance attorney and
senior programmer)

Number of current N-4
filers6

× 416

× 416

×416

Total final new burden
estimates for current N-4
filers

416 hours

$168,896

$20,800

$1,624

$7009

Final Form N-4
disclosures for nonvariable annuity issuers7

$406
9 hours

4 hours8

(blended rate for
compliance attorney and
senior programmer)

Number of non-variable
annuity issuers10

× 3811

× 38

x 38

Total final new burden
estimates for non-variable
annuity issuers

152 hours

$61,712

$26,600

Total final new aggregate
annual burden

568 hours12

$230,608 13

$47,40014

Internal Hour
Estimate

Internal Hour
Cost Estimate

External Cost
Estimate

15,498

327,571
hours

$28,628,918

$16,791,000

+38

+ 568 hours

+ $230,608

+ $47,400

$28,859,526

$16,838,400

TOTAL FINAL ESTIMATED BURDENS INCLUDING AMENDMENTS
Responses

Current aggregate annual
burden estimates

Final additional annual
burdens
Revised final aggregate
annual burden estimates

15,536

328,139 hours

Notes:
1. Includes initial burden estimates annualized over a 3-year period.
2. The PRA estimates assume that the types of professionals that will be involved in complying with the new interactive data

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requirements. The Commission’s estimates of the relevant wage rates are based on the SIFMA Wage Report. The $406 wage
rate reflects current estimates of the blended hourly rate for an in-house compliance attorney ($425) and a senior programmer
($386). $406 is based on the following calculation: ($425 + $386)/2 = $406. This estimate represents the average burden for
a filer on Form N-4 that is currently subject to interactive data requirements.
3. Estimated incremental burden for a variable annuity Form N-4 filer that is subject to the form’s current interactive data
requirements.
4. Includes initial burden estimates annualized over a three-year period, plus 0.67 hour of ongoing annual burden hours. The
estimate of 1 hour is based on the following calculation: ((1 initial hour /3) + 0.67 hour of additional ongoing burden hours) = 1
hour.
5. Estimated incremental external cost for Form N-4 variable annuity registrants that already submit certain information using
Inline XBRL.
6. Based on a review of Form N-CEN reports through December 31, 2023, we estimate that 416 variable annuity registrants file
on Form N-4.
7. Estimated average burden for a RILA that files on Form N-4 that is currently subject to interactive data requirements on other
Commission forms.
8. Includes initial burden estimates annualized over a three-year period, plus 1 hour of ongoing annual burdens. The estimate of
4 hours is based on the following calculation: ((9 initial hours /3 = 3 hours) + 1 hour of additional ongoing burden hours) = 4
hours.
9. We estimate an incremental external cost for RILAs that would be newly filing on Form N-4 of $700 to reflect one-time
compliance and initial set-up costs. This estimate is based on past estimates of costs-- including costs of outside legal services
and other service providers—relating to issuers that are newly required to submit certain disclosures in Inline XBRL format.
Because RILAs are currently subject to Inline XBRL tagging requirements on other forms, we do not estimate any burdens
related to one-time costs associated with becoming familiar with structured data requirements (e.g., the acquisition of new
software or the services of consultants).
10. This estimate is based on the number of insurance companies issuing non-variable annuities. The proposal reflected an
estimate of the number of RILAs, as opposed to the number of insurance companies issuing RILAs. We have updated this
approach to better reflect the way that the burden for Investment Company Interactive Data has historically been calculated.
11. In connection with variable and non-variable annuity products, insurance companies only need to tag filings for annuities
that are offered to new investors. See Updated Disclosure Requirements and Summary Prospectus for Variable Annuity and
Variable Life Insurance Contracts, Investment Company Act Release No. 33814 (Mar. 11, 2020) [85 FR 25964 (May 1, 2020)]
at Section II.D (“VASP Adopting Release”). As a result, many non-variable annuity issuers do not—and will not—need to tag their
disclosures because their annuities are no longer offered to new investors. Here, because we are not distinguishing between
filings associated with annuities offered to new investors and those that are not, we likely are over-estimating the burden.
12. 568 hours = 416 hours + 152 hours.
13. $230,608 internal time cost = $168,896 + $61,712.
14. $47,400 annual external cost = $20,800 + $26,600.

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13. Cost to Respondents
Cost burden is the cost of goods and services purchased to comply with the
Investment Company Interactive Data requirements, such as for software or the services
of consultants or filing agents. The cost burden does not include the cost of the hour
burden discussed in Item 12 above.
As summarized in above, in our most recent Paperwork Reduction Act submission for
Investment Company Interactive Data, Commission staff estimated about $16,791,000 in
external cost burdens per year. Our revised aggregate annual burden cost to respondents
is $16,838,400. We estimate that the annual cost of outside services associated with the
proposed amendments to the structured data requirements in Form N-4 and Rule 405 of
Regulation S-T is $63,000.
14. Cost to the Federal Government
The annual cost of reviewing and processing disclosure documents, including new
registration statements, post-effective amendments, proxy statements, shareholder
reports, and other filings of investment companies amounted to approximately $33
million in fiscal year 2023, based on the Commission’s computation of the value of staff
time devoted to this activity and related overhead.
15. Change in Burden
As reflected in Table 1 above, the annual burden hours for the collection of
information for Investment Company Interactive Data is estimated to increase from
327,571 hours to 328,139 hours (an increase of 568 hours). We estimate that external
costs would increase from $16,791,000 to $16,838,400 (an increase of $47,400). The
changes in annual burden hours and external cost burdens are due to the final

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amendments to Form N-4 and Rule 405 that require non-variable annuity issuers to tag
specified disclosures filed on Form N-4 using Inline XBRL. That is, the changes result
from the estimated increase in the number of issuers filing Form N-4 using Inline XBRL
as a result of the final amendments. These changes in burden also reflect the
Commission’s revision and update of burden estimates for all information collections
under this OMB control number (whether or not associated with rulemaking changes),
and the Commission’s requested public comment on all information collection burden
estimates for this OMB control number.
16. Information Collection Planned for Statistical Purposes
Not applicable.
17. Approval to Omit OMB Expiration Date
Not applicable.
18. Exceptions to Certification Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act
Submission
Not applicable.
B. COLLECTIONS OF INFORMATION EMPLOYING STATISTICAL
METHODS
Not applicable.

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