9410 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Notices 

25 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Notice of Filing infra note 4, 85 FR at 85788. 

4Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34–90763 

(Dec. 21, 2020), 85 FR 85788 (Dec. 29, 2020) (File 

No. SR–OCC–2020–016) (‘‘Notice of Filing’’). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82473 

(Jan. 9, 2018), 83 FR 2271 (Jan. 16, 2018) (File No. 

SR–OCC–2017–011), which describes how OCC 

periodically reviews the parameters and 

assumptions used by STANS pursuant to its Model 

Risk Management Policy and in accordance with 17 

CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6). 

6 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) and 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74966 

(May 14, 2015), 80 FR 29784 (May 22, 2015) (File 

No. SR–OCC–2015–010); Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 76128 (Dec. 28, 2015), 81 FR 135 (Jan. 

4, 2016) (File No. SR–OCC–2015–016); Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 79818 (Jan. 18, 2017), 82 

FR 8455 (Jan. 25, 2017) (File No. SR–OCC–2017– 

001); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82161 

(Nov. 28, 2017), 82 FR 57306 (Dec. 4, 2017) (File 

No. SR–OCC–2017–022); Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 84524 (Nov. 2, 2018), 83 FR 55918 

(Nov. 8, 2018) (File No. SR–OCC–2018–014); 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 85440 (Mar. 

28, 2019), 84 FR 13082 (Apr. 3, 2019) (File No. SR– 

OCC–2019–002); Securities Exchange Act Release 

No. 85755 (Apr. 30, 2019), 87 FR 19815 (May 6, 

2019) (File No. SR–OCC–2019–004); Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 86296 (Jul. 3, 2019), 84 

FR 32816 (Jul. 9, 2019) (File No. SR–OCC–2019– 

005); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87387 

(Oct. 23, 2019), 84 FR 57890 (Oct. 29, 2019) (File 

No. SR–OCC–2019–010); Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 89392 (Jul. 24, 2020), 85 FR 45938 (Jul. 

30,2020) (File No. SR–OCC–2020–007); Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 90139 (Oct. 8, 2020), 85 

FR 65886 (Oct. 16, 2020) (File No. SR– OCC–2020– 

012). 

8See id. 

9OCC also proposes conforming changes to its 

Margin Policy. 

10See Notice of Filing, 85 FR at 85789. 

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– 

CboeEDGX–2021–009 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–CboeEDGX–2021–009. 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 

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 the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. 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–CboeEDGX–2021–009 and 

should be submitted on or before March 

5, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.25

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02857 Filed 2–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–91079; File No. SR–OCC– 

2020–016] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Options Clearing Corporation; Order 

Approving Proposed Rule Change to 

Concerning the Options Clearing 

Corporation’s System for Theoretical 

Analysis and Numerical Simulation 

(‘‘STANS’’) Methodology 

Documentation 

February 8, 2021. 

I. Introduction 

On December 9, 2020, the Options 

Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change SR–OCC–2020– 

016 (‘‘Proposed Rule Change’’) pursuant 

to Section 19(b) of the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Exchange 

Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 2 thereunder to 

adopt a new document describing OCC’s 

system for calculating daily and intraday margin requirements for its Clearing 

Members.3 The Proposed Rule Change 

was published for public comment in 

the Federal Register on December 29, 

2020.4 The Commission has received no 

comments regarding the Proposed Rule 

Change. This order approves the 

Proposed Rule Change. 

II. Background 

To manage the credit risk posed by its 

Clearing Members, OCC collects margin 

collateral both daily and intraday. OCC 

uses its System for Theoretical Analysis 

and Numerical Simulation (‘‘STANS’’) 

to set risk-based margin requirements 

for its Clearing Members. The margin 

requirements calculated using STANS 

consist of an estimate of a 99 percent 

expected shortfall (‘‘ES’’) over a two-day 

time horizon with additional charges for 

model risk, stress tests, liquidation 

costs, and various add-ons. 

OCC maintains technical 

documentation that describes how the 

various quantitative components of 

STANS were developed and operate, 

including the various parameters and 

assumptions contained within those 

components 5 and the mathematical 

theories underlying the selection of 

those quantitative methods (‘‘Model 

Whitepapers’’). The Model Whitepapers 

are currently synthesized in a single 

document, the Margins Methodology, 

describing how STANS operates from 

end to end. Pursuant to section 19(b) of 

the Exchange Act and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,6 OCC has filed, and the 

Commission has approved, sections of 

OCC’s Margins Methodology as rules in 

the past.7 OCC has not, however, filed 

the Margins Methodology in its entirety. 

Additionally, OCC has requested 

confidential treatment for those sections 

of the Margins Methodology that it has 

filed with the Commission.8

OCC now proposes to replace the 

Margins Methodology in its entirety 

(both sections that have and have not 

been filed as rules) with a description of 

OCC’s system for calculating daily and 

intra-day margin requirements for its 

Clearing Members (the ‘‘STANS 

Methodology Description’’).9 OCC stated 

that the proposed STANS Methodology 

Description includes the material 

aspects of OCC’s risk-based margin 

system.10 OCC intends to make the 

proposed STANS Methodology 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Notices 9411 

11See Notice of Filing, 85 FR at 85790. 

12OCC does not propose to change its margin 

methodology as part of the Proposed Rule Change. 

13See Notice of Filing, 85 FR at 85790. 

14A copula is a mathematical construct used in 

probability theory to calculate the cumulative 

distribution of a set of random variables. 

15Asian options are European-style options for 

which the settlement price is determined based on 

the difference between the aggregate exercise price 

and the aggregate current underlying interest value, 

which is based on the average of twelve monthly 

price observations. See Securities Exchange Release 

No. 74966 (May 14, 2015), 80 FR 29784 (May 22, 

2015) (File No. SR–OCC–2015–010). 

16Cliquet options are European-style options for 

which the settlement price is determined based on 

the (positive) sum of capped returns of an index on 

pre-determined dates over a specified period of 

time. See id., n. 9. 

17Forward start options are options for which the 

strike price in dollars is unknown prior to the 

determination date of the strike shortly before 

expiration. See Notice of Filing, 85 FR at 85796. 

Description available to Clearing 

Members.11

The proposed STANS Methodology 

Description would include substantially 

the same information as the Margins 

Methodology with the exception of 

various details, described below, that 

OCC does not believe would be 

appropriately included in the STANS 

Methodology Description.12 OCC stated 

that the purpose of the STANS 

Methodology Description would be to 

enable an informed reader to 

understand OCC’s modeling choices and 

the interconnectedness of STANS model 

components in producing OCC margin 

requirements, and that the portions of 

the Margins Methodology not carried 

forward in the STANS Methodology 

Description are extraneous to this 

purpose.13

Proposed STANS Methodology 

Description 

As noted above, the proposed STANS 

Methodology Description covers OCC’s 

system for calculating daily and intraday margin requirements for its Clearing 

Members. The proposed document 

includes three sections with various 

subsections as described below and in 

greater detail in the Notice of Filing. 

The STANS Methodology Description 

begins with an executive summary. The 

executive summary would state that the 

purpose of STANS is to determine 

margin requirements for OCC’s Clearing 

Members, and would describe the types 

of positions and collateral modeled 

through STANS. The executive 

summary would also briefly describe 

OCC’s procedures related to both model 

monitoring and price editing. 

Model components. The bulk of the 

STANS Methodology Description covers 

the model components in STANS, 

including model and econometric 

calibration, copula construction, 

implied volatility smoothing and 

options pricing, and the application of 

the theoretical derivatives prices to 

actual positions in Clearing Members’ 

accounts to calculate margin 

requirements through the aggregation of 

various component charges. The subsections related to model and 

econometric calibration cover the use of 

(i) returns on equity securities that are 

based on current market prices to create 

econometric parameters and for pricing; 

(ii) implied volatility risk factors to 

measure the expected future volatility of 

an option’s underlying security at 

expiration; (iii) Nelson-Siegel 

framework to price treasury securities; 

(iv) a generic futures model to price 

linear derivatives with limited term 

structures; (v) a specialized factor model 

to price variance futures; (vi) a synthetic 

futures model to price specified 

products such as volatility index-based 

futures (e.g., VIX futures); and (vii) 

econometric parameters related to 

volatility forecasts and marginal 

distributions, and calibrates these 

parameters using ten-year histories of 

the foregoing data inputs. 

The sub-sections related to copula 

construction describes the use of a 

copula to quantify the joint behavior 

and dependence structure of the risk 

factors used by STANS.14 The STANS 

Methodology Description covers OCC’s 

process for estimating the copula as well 

as simulating price movements based on 

random draws from the multivariate 

Student’s t-distribution described by the 

copula. The document also describes 

OCC’s process for identifying and 

separately processing risk factors with 

incomplete data sets that lack sufficient 

data to estimate the copula. Specifically, 

the STANS Methodology Description 

addresses the application of conditional 

and default simulations to estimate 

correlations for risk factors excluded 

from the copula simulation in STANS 

due to a lack of data. 

The sub-sections related to implied 

volatility smoothing and options pricing 

describe how OCC uses the inputs and 

outputs described in the subsections on 

model and econometric calibration and 

copula construction. Specifically, the 

STANS Methodology Description 

discusses OCC’s processing for 

performing implied volatility smoothing 

as well as pricing European-style 

options, American-style options, Asian 

FLEX options,15 and Cliquet options.16

The document also discusses how 

STANS can also be used to price 

forward start options.17

The sub-sections related to the 

aggregation of various component 

charges discuss a based margin charge, 

error compensation charge, liquidation 

cost charge, and positive risk reversal 

charge. The base margin charge consists 

of an ES calculation with the addition 

of Extreme Value Theory loss modeling 

and a stress test component. The error 

compensation charge is designed to 

compensate for the estimation error 

inherent in ES calculations. The 

liquidation cost charge is designed to 

cover the costs of selling long positions 

at the current bid price and covering 

short positions at the current ask price 

following the default of a Clearing 

Member. The positive risk reversal 

charge ensures that total calculated 

margin requirement is at least equal to 

the estimated liquidation cost, even in 

the event a position is liquidated at the 

current market price. 

Model utilities. The final substantive 

section of the STANS Methodology 

Description addresses several model 

utilities that OCC applies at various 

points in the STANS methodology, to 

incorporate various market and 

operational factors that affect options 

pricing and thereby produce model 

results which more accurately reflect 

current and potential market conditions. 

Such utilities include the incorporation 

of expected cash dividends on a stock 

into options pricing in STANS. The 

STANS Methodology Description also 

addresses OCC’s processes for obtaining 

relevant risk factors for both the most 

recent opening price and the most 

recent closing price to include a joint 

distribution of both overnight and daily 

returns on relevant risk factors within 

the copula described above. Further, the 

STANS Methodology Description 

discusses OCC’s process for addressing 

option expirations occurring during the 

period in which OCC closes out a 

defaulted Clearing Member’s portfolio. 

Finally, the document describes the 

portfolio specific haircut model that 

OCC uses to haircut values for 

withdrawals or deposits of collateral 

made throughout the day. 

Additional Details 

As noted above, STANS Methodology 

Description would not include details 

from the Margins Methodology that OCC 

believes are extraneous to the purpose 

of enabling an informed reader to 

understand OCC’s modeling choices and 

the interconnectedness of STANS model 

components in producing OCC margin 

requirements. As described below, and 

in greater detail in the Notice of Filing, 

the details in the Margins Methodology 

that would not be included in the 

9412 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Notices 

18See Notice of Filing, 85 FR at 85790. 

19 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C). 

20 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

21 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6). 

22 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

STANS Methodology Description fall 

thematically into eight categories.18

First, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe 

historical modeling practices and 

potential future enhancements that do 

not describe how a model currently 

functions. For example, the STANS 

Methodology Description would not 

include background on OCC’s decision 

to incorporate implied volatility 

modeling into STANS. Similarly, the 

STANS Methodology Description would 

not summarize historical changes OCC 

has made to the manner in which 

STANS calculates a total margin charge. 

Second, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe the set 

of current products to which each 

STANS component applies. For 

example, the STANS Methodology 

Description would list products eligible 

for implied volatility scenarios 

modeling in STANS. 

Third, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe OCC’s 

model configuration choices. Such 

configuration choices include a list of 

control parameters of the NewtonRaphson method OCC uses to calculate 

implied volatilities for vanilla options. 

Similarly, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe the 

parameters that OCC uses to calibrate 

liquidation grids when calculating its 

liquidation cost charge. 

Fourth, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe model 

testing results and supporting rationale. 

Such testing results would include 

model testing and validation results for 

OCC’s implied volatility model. 

Similarly, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe the 

mathematical rationale for the 

cumulative distribution function, 

inverse cumulative distribution 

function, and degrees of freedom for the 

Student’s t-distribution used by the 

GARCH model for implied volatility risk 

factors. 

Fifth, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe 

standard mathematical and economic 

theories and techniques that are wellknown in quantitative finance, readily 

found in public sources, and do not 

include OCC-specific modifications or 

applications. For example, the STANS 

Methodology Description would not 

describe the standard GlostenJagannathan-Runkle GARCH model and 

the use of a Student’s t-distribution. 

Similarly, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe the 

Vega-weighted least squares calculation 

performed during the first round of 

optimization to produce arbitrage-free 

options prices for European options. 

Sixth, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not include 

redundant descriptions of a model 

component appearing in multiple 

chapters. For example, the Executive 

Summary of the STANS Methodology 

Description would not include details of 

the STANS methodology also found in 

the main body of the document. 

Similarly, the section of the proposed 

STANS Methodology Description 

discussing conditional and default 

simulations would not include 

introductory text restating the use of 

time series in STANS, which is 

described elsewhere in the document. 

Seventh, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe OCC’s 

implementation of a model in its 

internal technology systems. Such 

details include detailed steps for a 

linear interpolation/extrapolation used 

to construct a volatility surface from 

smoothed volatilities. Similarly, the 

STANS Methodology Description would 

not include discussion of the processes 

OCC uses to operationalize the STANS 

methodology in its systems. 

Finally, the STANS Methodology 

Description would not describe manual 

margin adjustments and add-ons that 

OCC employs pursuant to OCC rules, 

policies, or procedures outside of 

STANS. Such adjustments include 

additional margin charges related to 

cross-margin accounts established under 

OCC’s Rule 704. Similarly, the STANS 

Methodology Description would not 

describe ‘‘derived scenarios,’’ which are 

a special case of conditional simulations 

related to exchange rate risk factors 

addressed elsewhere in OCC’s 

procedures. 

Changes to Margin Policy 

OCC also proposes conforming 

changes to its Margin Policy to reflect 

the adoption of the STANS 

Methodology Description and the 

retirement of the Margins Methodology. 

Additionally, OCC proposes to make 

other non-substantive changes to the 

Margin Policy to correct typographical 

errors, update references to other related 

internal OCC policies and procedures, 

and conform the policy to OCC’s current 

internal policy template. 

III. Discussion and Commission’s 

Findings 

Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Exchange 

Act directs the Commission to approve 

a proposed rule change of a selfregulatory organization if it finds that 

such proposed rule change is consistent 

with the requirements of the Exchange 

Act and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to such 

organization.19 After carefully 

considering the Proposed Rule Change, 

the Commission finds that the proposal 

is consistent with the requirements of 

the Exchange Act and the rules and 

regulations thereunder applicable to 

OCC. More specifically, the Commission 

finds that the proposal is consistent 

with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the 

Exchange Act,20 Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 21

thereunder, as described in detail 

below. 

A. Consistency With Section 

17A(b)(3)(F) of the Exchange Act 

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Exchange 

Act requires, among other things, that 

the rules of a clearing agency be 

designed to assure the safeguarding of 

securities and funds which are in its 

custody or control or for which it is 

responsible.22 OCC uses STANS to set 

risk-based margin requirements for its 

Clearing Members. OCC proposes to 

describe its modeling choices and the 

interconnectedness of STANS model 

components in producing such margin 

requirements within its rules by 

adopting the STANS Methodology 

Description. The aspects of STANS 

described in the STANS Methodology 

Description directly relate to OCC’s 

ability to accurately risk manage 

Clearing Member portfolios by 

calculating and collecting an 

appropriate amount of collateral. The 

Commission notes that only some of the 

aspects of STANS addressed in the 

STANS Methodology Description are 

currently addressed in the portions of 

the Margins Methodology that OCC has 

filed with the Commission. 

The Commission believes that, even 

with the removal of the additional 

details from the Margins Methodology 

described above, the proposed STANS 

Methodology Description is designed to 

help ensure that OCC’s margin 

methodology calculates and collects 

margin sufficient to mitigate OCC’s 

credit exposure to a Clearing Member 

default. The Commission also believes 

that accurate calculation of margin is 

necessary to help ensure that OCC is 

able to risk manage the default of a 

Clearing Member without recourse to 

the assets of non-defaulting Clearing 

Members, which supports the 

safeguarding of securities and funds in 

OCC’s custody. Accordingly, the 

Commission believes that the 

replacement of the Margins 

Methodology with the STANS Margin 

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 28 / Friday, February 12, 2021 / Notices 9413 

23 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

24 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6). 

25 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6)(i). 

26 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6)(iii). 

27 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6)(v). 

28 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(6). 

29 In approving this Proposed Rule Change, the 

Commission has considered the proposed rules’ 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

30 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

31 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

Description is consistent with the 

requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 

the Exchange Act.23

B. Consistency With Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 

Under the Exchange Act 

Rules 17Ad–22(e)(6) generally 

requires each covered clearing agency 

that provides central counterparty 

services to establish, implement, 

maintain, and enforce written policies 

and procedures reasonably designed to 

cover its credit exposure to its 

participants by establishing a risk-based 

margin system that meets certain 

standards.24 As described above, the 

STANS Methodology Description 

addresses OCC’s modeling choices and 

the interconnectedness of STANS model 

components in producing risk-based 

margin requirements. 

Section (i) under Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 

requires that the policies and 

procedures required pursuant to Rule 

17Ad–22(e)(6) describe a risk-based 

margin system that considers and 

produces margin levels commensurate 

with the risks and particular attributes 

of each relevant product, portfolio, and 

market.25 As described above, the 

STANS Methodology Description covers 

various components of STANS designed 

to address the particular attributes of the 

products that OCC clears (e.g., 

American-style options, European-style 

options, Asian FLEX options, Cliquet 

options) as well as the risks presented 

by a specific portfolio (e.g., liquidation 

cost charges). Further, the STANS 

Methodology Description also describes 

OCC’s process addressing the entrance 

of new products into the markets for 

which it clears (identifying and 

separately processing risk factors with 

incomplete data sets that lack sufficient 

data to estimate the copula). 

Section (iii) under Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 

requires that the policies and 

procedures required pursuant to Rule 

17Ad–22(e)(6) describe a risk-based 

margin system that calculates margin 

sufficient to cover its potential future 

exposure to participants in the interval 

between the last margin collection and 

the close out of positions following a 

participant default.26 As described 

above, the STANS Methodology 

Description discusses various model 

utilities that pertain to events occurring 

between the collection of margin and 

closing out of a defaulted Clearing 

Member’s portfolio (e.g., cash dividend 

payments, option expiration, and 

changes to portfolio specific haircuts 

due to the withdrawal or deposit of 

collateral). 

Section (v) under Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 

requires that the policies and 

procedures required pursuant to Rule 

17Ad–22(e)(6) describe a risk-based 

margin system that uses an appropriate 

method for measuring credit exposure to 

accounts for relevant product risk 

factors and portfolio effects across 

products.27 As discussed above, the 

STANS Methodology Description covers 

the various STANS components that 

provide the inputs and outputs 

necessary for OCC to conduct implied 

volatility smoothing and options pricing 

(e.g., model components addressing 

derivatives based on equities and 

treasuries as well as generic futures, 

variance futures, and volatility indexbased futures) as well as the implied 

volatility smoothing and options pricing 

themselves. 

Based on the foregoing, the 

Commission believes that the 

replacement of the Margins 

Methodology with the STANS Margin 

Description is consistent with the 

requirements of Rule 17Ad–22(e)(6) 

under the Exchange Act.28

IV. Conclusion 

On the basis of the foregoing, the 

Commission finds that the Proposed 

Rule Change is consistent with the 

requirements of the Exchange Act, and 

in particular, the requirements of 

Section 17A of the Exchange Act 29 and 

the rules and regulations thereunder. 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act,30

that the Proposed Rule Change (SR– 

OCC–2020–016) be, and hereby is, 

approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.31

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–02859 Filed 2–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–125, OMB Control No. 

3235–0104] 

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 3 

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 

(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 

on the collections of information 

summarized below. The Commission 

plans to submit this existing collection 

of information to the Office of 

Management and Budget for extension 

and approval. 

Exchange Act Forms 3 is filed by 

insiders of public companies that have 

a class of securities registered under 

Section 12 of the Exchange Act. Form 3 

is an initial statement beneficial 

ownership of securities. Approximately 

21,968 insiders file Form 3 annually and 

it takes approximately 0.50 hours to 

prepare for a total of 10,984 annual 

burden hours (0.50 hours per response 

× 21,968 responses). 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether this proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden imposed by 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. 

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 

control number. 

Please direct your written comment to 

David Bottom, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Cynthia 

Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, 

DC 20549 or send an email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov.