Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Notices 13409 

17 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1Estimates of the number of hours are based on 

conversations with representatives of mutual funds 

that comply with the rule. The actual number of 

hours may vary significantly depending on 

individual fund assets. The hour burden for rule 

17f–1 does not include preparing the custody 

contract because that would be part of customary 

and usual business practice. 

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– 

CboeEDGA–2021–006 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–CboeEDGA–2021–006. 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; 

the Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR– 

CboeEDGA–2021–006 and should be 

submitted on or before March 29, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.17

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04682 Filed 3–5–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: 3 p.m. on Thursday, 

March 11, 2021. 

PLACE: The meeting will be held via 

remote means and/or at the 

Commission’s headquarters, 100 F 

Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. 

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to 

the public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Commissioners, Counsel to the 

Commissioners, the Secretary to the 

Commission, and recording secretaries 

will attend the closed meeting. Certain 

staff members who have an interest in 

the matters also may be present. 

In the event that the time, date, or 

location of this meeting changes, an 

announcement of the change, along with 

the new time, date, and/or place of the 

meeting will be posted on the 

Commission’s website at https://

www.sec.gov. 

The General Counsel of the 

Commission, or his designee, has 

certified that, in his opinion, one or 

more of the exemptions set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(3), (5), (6), (7), (8), 9(B) 

and (10) and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), 

(a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9)(ii) and 

(a)(10), permit consideration of the 

scheduled matters at the closed meeting. 

The subject matter of the closed 

meeting will consist of the following 

topics: 

Institution and settlement of 

injunctive actions; 

Institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings; 

Resolution of litigation claims; and 

Other matters relating to examinations 

and enforcement proceedings. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting agenda items that 

may consist of adjudicatory, 

examination, litigation, or regulatory 

matters. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For further information; please contact 

Vanessa A. Countryman from the Office 

of the Secretary at (202) 551–5400. 

Dated: March 4, 2021. 

Vanessa A. Countryman, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04871 Filed 3–4–21; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–236, OMB Control No. 

3235–0222] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

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: 

Rule 17f–1 

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’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget a 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

Rule 17f–1 (17 CFR 270.17f–1) under 

the Investment Company Act of 1940 

(the ‘‘Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 80a) is entitled: 

‘‘Custody of Securities with Members of 

National Securities Exchanges.’’ Rule 

17f–1 provides that any registered 

management investment company 

(‘‘fund’’) that wishes to place its assets 

in the custody of a national securities 

exchange member may do so only under 

a written contract that must be ratified 

initially and approved annually by a 

majority of the fund’s board of directors. 

The written contract also must contain 

certain specified provisions. In addition, 

the rule requires an independent public 

accountant to examine the fund’s assets 

in the custody of the exchange member 

at least three times during the fund’s 

fiscal year. The rule requires the written 

contract and the certificate of each 

examination to be transmitted to the 

Commission. The purpose of the rule is 

to ensure the safekeeping of fund assets. 

Commission staff estimates that each 

fund makes 1 response and spends an 

average of 3.5 hours annually in 

complying with the rule’s requirements. 

Commission staff estimates that on an 

annual basis it takes: (i) 0.5 hours for the 

board of directors 1 to review and ratify 

the custodial contracts; and (ii) 3 hours 

for the fund’s controller to assist the 

fund’s independent public auditors in 

verifying the fund’s assets. 

Approximately 6 funds rely on the rule 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
13410 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 43 / Monday, March 8, 2021 / Notices 

2Based on a review of Form N–17f–1 filings over 

the last three years the Commission staff estimates 

that an average of 6 funds rely on rule 17f–1 each 

year. 

3This estimate is based on the following 

calculation: (6 respondents × 3.5 hours = 21 hours). 

The annual burden for rule 17f–1 does not include 

time spent preparing Form N–17f–1. The burden for 

Form N–17f–1 is included in a separate collection 

of information. 

4This estimate is based on the following 

calculation: (2 hours of outside counsel time × $489 

= $978). The staff has estimated the average cost of 

outside counsel at $489 per hour, based on 

information received from funds and their counsel. 

5This estimate is based on information received 

from fund representatives estimating the aggregate 

annual cost of an independent public accountant’s 

periodic verification of assets and preparation of the 

certificate of examination. 

6This estimate is based on the following 

calculation: ($978 + $9,050 = $10,028). 

7This estimate is based on the following 

calculation: (6 funds × $10,028 = $60,168). 

1The sixteen options markets are as follows: BOX 

Exchange LLC, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe C2 

Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., Cboe 

Exchange, Inc., Miami International Securities 

Exchange LLC, MIAX Emerald, LLC, MIAX PEARL, 

LLC, Nasdaq BX, Inc., Nasdaq GEMX, LLC, Nasdaq 

ISE, LLC, Nasdaq MRX, LLC, Nasdaq PHLX LLC, 

Nasdaq Options Market (NOM), NYSE Arca, Inc., 

and NYSE American LLC. 

2SIFMA did its last annual survey in 2013 and 

will not resume the survey process. Accordingly, 

the $420 figure is based on the 2013 figure ($380) 

adjusted by the inflation rate calculated using the 

Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator. 

The $380 per hour figure for an Attorney is from 

SIFMA’s Management & Professional Earnings in 

the Securities Industry 2013, modified by 

Commission staff to account for an 1800-hour workyear and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, 

firm size, employee benefits and overhead. 

3The estimate of 1,020 broker-dealers required to 

comply with Rule 9b–1 is derived from Item 12 of 

the Form BD (OMB Control No. 3235–0012). This 

estimate may be high as it includes broker-dealers 

that engage in only a proprietary business, and as 

a result are not required to deliver an ODD, as well 

as those broker-dealers subject to Rule 9b–1. 

4The $63 figure is based on the 2013 figure ($57) 

adjusted for inflation. See supra note 2. The $57 per 

hour figure for a General Clerk is from SIFMA’s 

Office Salaries in the Securities Industry 2013, 

modified by Commission staff to account for an 

1800-hour work-year and multiplied by 2.93 to 

account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits 

and overhead. The staff believes that the ODD 

would be mailed or electronically delivered to 

customers by a general clerk of the broker-dealer or 

some other equivalent position. 

annually, with a total of 6 responses.2

Thus, the total annual hour burden for 

rule 17f–1 is approximately 21 hours.3

Funds that rely on rule 17f–1 

generally use outside counsel to prepare 

the custodial contract for the board’s 

review and to transmit the contract to 

the Commission. Commission staff 

estimates the cost of outside counsel to 

perform these tasks for a fund each year 

is $978.4 Funds also must have an 

independent public accountant verify 

the fund’s assets three times each year 

and prepare the certificate of 

examination. Commission staff 

estimates the annual cost for an 

independent public accountant to 

perform this service is $9,050.5

Therefore, the total annual cost burden 

for a fund that relies on rule 17f–1 

would be approximately $10,028.6 As 

noted above, the staff estimates that 6 

funds rely on rule 17f–1 each year, for 

an estimated total annualized cost 

burden of $60,168.7

The estimate of average burden hours 

is made solely for the purposes of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not 

derived from a comprehensive or even 

a representative survey or study of the 

costs of Commission rules. Compliance 

with the collections of information 

required by rule 17f–1 is mandatory for 

funds that place their assets in the 

custody of a national securities 

exchange member. Responses 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 control number. 

The public may view background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following website: 

www.reginfo.gov. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom, 

Director/Chief Information Officer, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

c/o Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an 

email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: March 2, 2021. 

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–04655 Filed 3–5–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–429, OMB Control No. 

3235–0480] 

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: 

Rule 9b–1 

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 Rule 9b–1, Options 

Disclosure Document (17 CFR 240.9b– 

1), under the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.). The 

Commission plans to submit this 

existing collection of information to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval. 

Rule 9b–1 (17 CFR 240.9b–1) sets 

forth the categories of information 

required to be disclosed in an options 

disclosure document (‘‘ODD’’) and 

requires the options markets to file an 

ODD with the Commission 60 days prior 

to the date it is distributed to investors. 

In addition, Rule 9b–1 provides that the 

ODD must be amended if the 

information in the document becomes 

materially inaccurate or incomplete and 

that amendments must be filed with the 

Commission 30 days prior to the 

distribution to customers. Finally, Rule 

9b–1 requires a broker-dealer to furnish 

to each customer an ODD and any 

amendments prior to accepting an order 

to purchase or sell an option on behalf 

of that customer or when approving a 

customer’s account for options trading. 

There are 16 options markets 1 that 

must comply with Rule 9b–1. These 

respondents work together to prepare a 

single ODD covering options traded on 

each market, as well as amendments to 

the ODD. These respondents file 

approximately 3 amendments per year. 

The staff calculates that the preparation 

and filing of amendments should take 

no more than eight hours per options 

market. Thus, the total time burden for 

options markets per year is 

approximately 384 hours (16 options 

markets × 8 hours per amendment × 3 

amendments). The estimated cost for an 

in-house attorney is $420 per hour,2

resulting in a total internal cost of 

compliance for these respondents of 

approximately $161,280 per year (384 

hours at $420 per hour). 

In addition, approximately 1,020 

broker-dealers 3 must comply with Rule 

9b–1. Each of these respondents will 

process an average of 3 new customers 

for options each week and, therefore, 

will have to furnish approximately 156 

ODDs per year. The postal mailing or 

electronic delivery of the ODD takes 

respondents no more than 30 seconds to 

complete for an annual time burden for 

each of these respondents of 

approximately 78 minutes or 1.3 hours. 

Thus, the total time burden per year for 

broker-dealers is approximately 1,326 

hours (1,020 broker-dealers × 1.3 hours). 

The estimated cost for a general clerk of 

a broker-dealer is $63 per hour,4


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES