Federal Register 60-Day Collection Notice

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 127 / Monday, July 6, 2026 / Notices
companies, corporations, business or
statutory trusts or other entities
(‘‘Funds’’) organized primarily for the
benefit of eligible employees of
Manulife Investment Management
Private Markets (US) LLC and its
affiliates from certain provisions of the
Act. Each Fund, and each series thereof
(to the extent such series is an issuer for
purposes of the Act), will be an
‘‘employees’ securities company’’
within the meaning of section 2(a)(13) of
the Act.
Applicants: Manulife Investment
Management Private Markets (US) LLC
and Manulife Employee Securities
Company 2025, L.P.
Filing Dates: The application was
filed on March 14, 2025, and amended
on October 3, 2025, April 16, 2026, and
May 22, 2026.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An
order granting the requested relief will
be issued unless the Commission orders
a hearing. Interested persons may
request a hearing on any application by
emailing the SEC’s Secretary at
[email protected] and serving
Applicants with a copy of the request by
email, if an email address is listed for
Applicants below, or personally or by
mail, if a physical address is listed for
Applicants below. The email should
include the file number referenced
above. Hearing requests should be
received by the Commission by 5:30
p.m., Eastern time, on July 27, 2026, and
should be accompanied by proof of
service on Applicants, in the form of an
affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate of
service. Pursuant to rule 0–5 under the
Act, hearing requests should state the
nature of the writer’s interest, any facts
bearing upon the desirability of a
hearing on the matter, the reason for the
request, and the issues contested.
Persons who wish to be notified of a
hearing may request notification by
emailing the Commission’s Secretary.
ADDRESSES: The Commission:
[email protected]. Applicants:
Michael Lebowitz, Manulife Investment
Management Private Markets (US) LLC,
[email protected]; and John
Hunt, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, jhunt@
sullivanlaw.com.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin
Loomis Moore, Senior Counsel, or
Matthew Cook, Branch Chief, at (202)
551–6825 (Division of Investment
Management, Chief Counsel’s Office).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For
Applicants’ representations, legal
analysis, and conditions, please refer to
Applicants’ third amended and restated
application, dated May 22, 2026, which
may be obtained via the Commission’s
website by searching for the file number

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at the top of this document, or for an
Applicant using the Company name
search field, on the SEC’s EDGAR
system.
The SEC’s EDGAR system may be
searched at https://www.sec.gov/searchfilings. You may also call the SEC’s
Office of Investor Education and
Assistance at (202) 551–8090.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Investment Management, under delegated
authority.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026–13569 Filed 7–2–26; 8:45 am]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[OMB Control No. 3235–0531]

Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension: Rule 0–
1 Under the Investment Company Act
of 1940, Definition of Terms Used in
This Part
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 (SEC or
‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the proposed collection of
information described below.
The Investment Company Act of 1940
(the ‘‘Investment Company Act’’) 1
establishes a comprehensive framework
for regulating the organization and
operation of investment companies
(‘‘funds’’). A principal objective of the
Investment Company Act is to protect
fund investors by addressing the
conflicts of interest that exist between
funds and their investment advisers and
other affiliated persons. The Investment
Company Act places significant
responsibility on the fund board of
directors in overseeing the operations of
the fund and policing the relevant
conflicts of interest.2 Rule 0–1 (17 CFR
270.0–1), as amended, provides
definitions for the terms used by the
Commission in the rules and regulations
it has adopted pursuant to the
Investment Company Act. The rule also
contains a number of rules of
construction for terms that are defined
1 15 U.S.C. 80a et seq.
2 For example, fund directors must approve
investment advisory and distribution contracts. See
15 U.S.C. 80a–15(a), (b), and (c).

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either in the Investment Company Act
itself or elsewhere in the Commission’s
rules and regulations. Finally, rule 0–1
defines terms that serve as conditions to
the availability of certain of the
Commission’s exemptive rules. More
specifically, the term ‘‘independent
legal counsel,’’ as defined in paragraph
(a)(6) of rule 0–1, sets out conditions
that funds must meet in order to rely on
any of ten exemptive rules (‘‘exemptive
rules’’) under the Investment Company
Act.3
If the board’s counsel has represented
the fund’s investment adviser, principal
underwriter, administrator (collectively,
‘‘management organizations’’) or their
‘‘control persons’’ 4 during the past two
years, rule 0–1 requires that the board’s
independent directors make a
determination about the adequacy of the
counsel’s independence. A majority of
the board’s independent directors are
required to reasonably determine, in the
exercise of their judgment, that the
counsel’s prior or current representation
of the management organizations or
their control persons was sufficiently
limited to conclude that it is unlikely to
adversely affect the counsel’s
professional judgment and legal
representation.5 Rule 0–1 also requires
that a record for the basis of this
determination is made in the minutes of
the directors’ meeting. In addition, the
independent directors must have
obtained an undertaking from the
counsel to provide them with the
information necessary to make their
determination and to update promptly
that information when the person begins
to represent a management organization
or control person, or when he or she
materially increases his or her
representation.6 Generally, the
independent directors must re-evaluate
their determination no less frequently
than annually.
Under rule 0–1, if a majority of a
fund’s independent directors makes a
determination that the counsel’s
representation of fund management
organizations (or any of their control
persons) is or was so limited that it will
3 See 17 CFR 270.0–1(a)(7). The relevant
exemptive rules are: rule 10f–3 (17 CFR 270.10f–3),
rule 12b–1 (17 CFR 270.12b–1), rule 15a–4(b)(2) (17
CFR 270.15a–4(b)(2)), rule 17a–7 (17 CFR 270.17a–
7), rule 17a–8 (17 CFR 270.17a–8), rule 17d–1(d)(7)
(17 CFR 270.17d–1(d)(7)), rule 17e–1(c) (17 CFR
270.17e–1(c)), rule 17g–1 (17 CFR 270.17g–1), rule
18f–3 (17 CFR 270.18f–3), and rule 23c–3 (17 CFR
270.23c–3).
4 A ‘‘control person’’ is any person—other than a
fund—directly or indirectly controlling, controlled
by, or under common control, with any of the
fund’s management organizations. See 17 CFR
270.01(a)(6)(iv)(B).
5 17 CFR 270.0–1(a)(6)(i)(A).
6 17 CFR 270.0–1(a)(6)(i)(B).

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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 127 / Monday, July 6, 2026 / Notices

not adversely affect the counsel’s ability
to provide impartial advice to the
independent directors, the basis for that
determination must be recorded in the
board’s meeting minutes. The records
maintained under the rule are not
submitted to the Commission, but may
be reviewed by the Commission staff
upon request to ensure compliance with
the rule. Compliance with rule 0–1 is
required to obtain or retain benefits.
We estimate that approximately 920
funds would need to make the required
determination in order for their counsel
to meet the definition of independent
legal counsel under rule 0–1. Based on
conversations with fund representatives
and the Commission’s experience with
the use of rule 0–1, we estimate that the
recordkeeping burden of compliance
with rule 0–1 is approximately 1 hour
per respondent. This time is spent, for
example, preparing the materials and
minutes. Accordingly, we calculate the
total estimated annual internal burden
of complying with rule 0–1 to be
approximately 920 hours. The total
annual external cost is estimated to be
$0.
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 this proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the SEC,
including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of
the SEC’s estimate of the burden
imposed by the proposed collection of
information, including the validity of
the methodology and the assumptions
used; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information to
be collected; and (d) ways to minimize
the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated, electronic
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Please direct your written comments
on this 60-Day Collection Notice to
Austin Gerig, Director/Chief Data
Officer, Securities and Exchange
Commission, c/o Tanya Ruttenberg via
email to PaperworkReductionAct@
sec.gov by September 4, 2026.
Dated: June 30, 2026.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–105820; File No. SR–TXSE–
2026–009]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Texas
Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing
of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
a Continued Listing Standard Relating
to Beneficial Holders Applicable to ETF
Shares Listed on the Exchange Under
Rule 17.104(b)(2)(B)
June 30, 2026.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on June 16,
2026, Texas Stock Exchange LLC (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘TXSE’’) filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
change as described in Items I, II, and
III below, which Items have been
prepared by the Exchange. 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
The Exchange filed a proposal to
amend Rule 17.104 related to the
continued listing requirements on the
Exchange for Exchange Traded Fund
Shares (‘‘ETF Shares’’), as further
described below.
The text of the proposed rule change
is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on the Commission’s
website (https://www.sec.gov/rules/
sro.shtml) at the Exchange’s website
(https://txse.com/rule-filings), and at the
principal office of the Exchange.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission, the
Exchange 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. The
Exchange has prepared summaries, set
forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of
the most significant parts of such
statements.

[FR Doc. 2026–13495 Filed 7–2–26; 8:45 am]

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

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A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to change to
Rule 17.104(b)(2)(B) (the ‘‘Beneficial
Holders Rule’’) in order to amend the
continued listing standard applicable to
ETF Shares 3 listed on the Exchange.4
Currently, the Exchange’s continued
listing standard for ETF Shares under
the Beneficial Holders Rule requires
that, following the initial 12-month
period after commencement of trading
on the Exchange, the Exchange shall
consider the suspension of trading in
and will commence delisting
proceedings under Rule 16.500 for a
series of ETF Shares for which there are
fewer than 50 Beneficial Holders.5 The
Exchange is proposing to eliminate the
Beneficial Holders Rule because it
believes that the rule does not advance
any investment protection objective
specific to ETFs, produces arbitrary and
negative outcomes for investors and for
products that are otherwise operating
normally, and that the competitive
market for ETF Shares efficiently
incentivizes stagnant and unprofitable
funds to wind down. The Exchange is
also proposing to renumber Rule
17.104(b)(2) in order to reflect the
deletion of Rule 17.104(b)(2)(B).
Minimum shareholder requirements
have applied to listed operating
companies long before ETFs were listed
in the United States and for such
securities operate as a safeguard against
manipulation and liquidity concerns
related to a small and concentrated
float. In that context, such a requirement
makes sense: the supply of shares is
relatively fixed and a security with
limited distribution is more easily
subject to manipulation. ETFs, however,
3 The term ‘‘ETF Shares’’ means shares of stock
issued by an Exchange-Traded Fund. See Exchange
Rule 17.104(a)(1)(B). The term ‘‘Exchange-Traded
Fund’’ has the same meaning as the term
‘‘exchange-traded fund’’ as defined in Rule 6c–11
under the Investment Act of 1940. See Exchange
Rule 17.104(a)(1)(A).
4 The Exchange notes that its Rules related to the
listing and trading of other product types (that is,
products listed pursuant to Chapter 17 that are not
ETF Shares as defined above) have similar
requirements related to Beneficial Holders which
the Exchange is not proposing to change at this
time. Specifically, the Exchange is only proposing
to amend the Beneficial Holders Rules as it pertains
to ETF Shares because such product type represents
the vast majority of products listed on U.S.
exchanges. The Exchange may consider proposing
to amend the Beneficial Holders standards for other
product types in a future proposal.
5 As it relates to this filing, ‘‘Beneficial Holders’’
shall mean beneficial holders and, where applicable
in a particular continued listing standard, record
holders.

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