Supporting Statement A

Status: Original and derived artifacts are available for this document.

Download: pdf

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUPPORTING STATEMENT
for Extension of
Form N-54A
OMB Control Number 3235-0237

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or SEC) submits this
information collection request (ICR) pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), 44
U.S.C. Section 3501 et seq., with the following justification.

1.

Necessity of Information Collection

Certain investment companies can elect to be regulated as business development companies, as
defined in Section 2(a)(48) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Investment Company Act”). 1
Under Section 54(a) of the Investment Company Act, 2 any company defined in Section 2(a)(48)(A) and
(B) 3 may elect to be subject to the provisions of Sections 55 through 65 by filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) a notification of election, if such company has: (1) a class
of equity securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange
Act”); 4 or (2) filed a registration statement pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act for a class of its
equity securities. 5 The Commission adopted Form N-54A as the form for an investment company to
notify the Commission of its election to be regulated as a business development company.

2.

Purpose and Use of Information Collection

The purpose of Form N-54A is to notify the Commission that the investment company making
the notification elects to be subject to Sections 55 through 65 of the Investment Company Act, enabling
the Commission to administer those provisions of the Investment Company Act to such company.

3.

Use and Consideration of Information Technology

The Commission’s electronic filing system (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval
or “EDGAR”) automates the filing, processing and dissemination of full disclosure filings. The system
permits public companies to transmit their filings to the Commission electronically. This automation
has increased the speed, accuracy and availability of information, generating benefits to investors and
financial markets.

1
2
3
4
5

15 U.S.C. §80a–2(a)(48).
15 U.S.C. §80a–53(a).
15 U.S.C. §80a–2(a)(48)(A) and (B).
15 U.S.C. §78l.
Id.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Page 1 of 5

4.

Identifying and Minimizing Duplication

The Commission periodically evaluates reporting and recordkeeping requirements for
duplication and reevaluates them whenever it proposes a rule or form or a change in a rule or form. The
information required by Form N-54A is not generally duplicated elsewhere.

5.

Effect on Small Entities

The Commission reviews all rules periodically, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 6 to
identify methods to minimize recordkeeping or reporting requirements affecting small businesses. The
current disclosure requirements for Form N-54A do not distinguish between small entities and other
business development companies. Although the burden on small business development companies may
be proportionately greater than the burden on larger business development companies, the Commission
believes the burden imposed on any business development company is small due to the extent and type
of information required by the form.

6.

Consequences of Not Conducting Collection and Obstacles to Reducing
Burden

Investment companies electing to be regulated as business development companies are required
to file the notification of election on Form N-54A only once, and therefore the filing of Form N-54A is
not a recurring event requiring periodic collection.

7.

Inconsistencies with Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2)
This collection is not inconsistent with 5 CFR 1320.5(d)(2).

8.

Public Comment and Consultations Outside the Agency
The SEC did not receive public comment during the 60-day notice and comment period.

9.

Payment or Gift to Respondents
No payment or gift to respondents was provided.

10.

Assurance of Confidentiality and Privacy
No assurance of confidentiality was provided.

11.

Collection Questions of a Sensitive Nature

The information collection collects basic personally identifiable information (PII) that may
include a name and job title. However, the agency has determined that the information collection does
not constitute a system of records for purposes of the Privacy Act because 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 3/22/2023, is provided as a supplemental
document and is also available at https://www.sec.gov/privacy.

6

5 U.S.C. §§ 601-612.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Page 2 of 5

12.

Estimated Time Burden and its Cost Equivalent

The following estimates of average burden hours and costs are made solely for purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (“PRA”) 7 and are not derived from a comprehensive or even
representative survey or study of the cost of Commission rules and forms. Compliance with Form N54A is mandatory for companies electing to be regulated as business development companies.
Responses to the disclosure requirements will not be kept confidential. Staff estimates that on average
25 investment companies will elect to be regulated as business development companies in the manner
discussed above.8 Staff further estimates that such investment companies will spend 0.5 hours at a cost
of $470.5 per hour preparing the form, resulting in a total annual cost of $5881.25. 9 The estimated
burden of information collection for Form N-54A is set forth in the table below.

7
8

9

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
This number is based on the average annual number of Form N-54A filings with the Commission from January 1,
2023 through December 31, 2025.
The estimated wage figure is based on the following blended rates: $774 (Lawyers) + $167 (bookkeeping,
accounting, and auditing clerks) / 2 = $470.5. These estimates are based on the following calculations: .5 burden
hours per response x $470.5/per hour = $235.25 burden cost per response; $235.25 per response x 25 annual
responses per year = $5881.25. To calculate the occupational hourly rates used in this release, the Commission uses
occupational mean hourly wage data from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for “Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and
Related Activities” (NAICS 523). See Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR
STATISTICS, https://www.bls.gov/oes/; see also Standard Occupational Classification, U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR
STATISTICS, https://www.bls.gov/soc/ (describing occupational classification system used by BLS); EXEC. OFF.
OF THE PRESIDENT, OFF. OF MGMT. & BUDGET, NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM (2022), available at https://www.census.gov/naics/reference_files_tools/2022_NAICS_Manual.pdf
(describing the industry classification system used by BLS and other agencies). The mean hourly wage for each
occupation is adjusted for changes in the seasonally adjusted employment cost index for private wages and salaries
between the data reference period and when the data are released by BLS. See Employment Cost Index, U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, https://www.bls.gov/eci/. The adjusted mean hourly wage is then multiplied
by a factor that accounts for nonwage costs borne by employers, such as bonuses, benefits, and overhead. This factor
is calculated as an average over the 10 most recently available years of data of the ratio of the Bureau of Economic
Analysis's annual gross output data for NAICS 523 to total annual wages across all occupations for NAICS 523 in
the OEWS data. See Gross Output by Industry, U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS,
https://www.bea.gov/data/industries/gross-output-by-industry; Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S.
BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, https://www.bls.gov/oes/. The final product is the occupational hourly rate.
See generally UPDATED METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING OCCUPATIONAL HOURLY RATES (Dec.
19, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/method-occupational-hourly-rates.pdf (describing updated data
sources and methodology that Commission staff will generally use for calculating the occupational hourly rates).

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Page 3 of 5

Table - Summary of Annual Responses, Burden Hours, and External Cost Burden Estimates for
Form N-54A
ICR Estimated Time Burden and its Cost Equivalent
Information
Collections
(ICs)

Requirement
Type

Number of
Frequency of
Respondents Response
(Number of
Responses
per
Respondent
per Time
Period)

Time per
Response

Equivalent
Cost per
Response

Total
Annual
Time
Burden
(Hours)

Total
Annual
Cost
Burden
Equivalent ($)

Form N-54A

Reporting

25

1 Response
per
Respondent
per Year

0.5 hour

$235.25

12.5

$5881.25

13.

Estimated Additional Cost Burden

Cost burden is the cost of services purchased to prepare and update Form N-54A, such as for the
services of outside counsel. Commission staff estimates that there is no cost burden associated with the
form other than the cost of the burdens identified in Item 12 of this Supporting Statement.

14.

Annual Cost to the Federal Government

The SEC is in the process of revising its methodologies to estimate annualized costs to the
Federal government for all its relevant collections of information. The SEC anticipates that future
extensions of this collection of information will reflect the revised methodologies.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Page 4 of 5

15.

Reasons for Changes in Burden Estimates

The increase in estimated burden hours for Form N-54A is attributable to an increase in the
number of respondents from 21 to 25, resulting in an increase of 2 hours.
Reasons for Changes in Burden Estimates
Information
Collections (ICs)

Area of Change

Reason for Change in Burden Estimates

Form N-54A

Annual Number of Responses
for this IC

• Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate

Annual IC Time Burden (Hours) 12.5
Annual IC Cost Burden
(Dollars)

16.

5881.25

Plans for Publishing Results
The results of any information collection will not be published.

17.

Approval to Omit Display of OMB Expiration Date
The Commission is not seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval.

18.

Exceptions to the Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
The Commission is not seeking an exception to the certification statement.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Page 5 of 5