Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 228 / Monday, November 29, 2010 / Notices 73137 

1See 17 CFR 240.17g–5(a)(3). 

2See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62120 

(May 19, 2010), 75 FR 28825 (May 24, 2010) 

(‘‘Order’’). 

3See id. at 28827–28 (setting forth conditions of 

relief). 

4 17 CFR 240.17g–5(b) and (c). 

5 17 CFR 240.17g–5(a). 

6 15 U.S.C. 78o–7(a)(1)(B)(vi). 

7 17 CFR 240.17g–1. 

8 15 U.S.C. 78o–7(h). 

need a reasonable accommodation to 

participate in these public meetings, or 

need this meeting notice or the 

transcript or other information from the 

public meetings in another format (e.g. 

braille, large print), please notify Angela 

Bolduc, Chief, Employee/Labor 

Relations and Work Life Branch, at 301– 

492–2230, TDD: 301–415–2100, or by 

e-mail at angela.bolduc@nrc.gov. 

Determinations on requests for 

reasonable accommodation will be 

made on a case-by-case basis. 

* * * * * 

This notice is distributed 

electronically to subscribers. If you no 

longer wish to receive it, or would like 

to be added to the distribution, please 

contact the Office of the Secretary, 

Washington, DC 20555 (301–415–1969), 

or send an e-mail to 

darlene.wright@nrc.gov. 

Dated: November 22, 2010. 

Rochelle C. Bavol, 

Policy Coordinator, Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30093 Filed 11–24–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213. 

Extension: 

Rule 701, OMB Control No. 3235–0522, 

SEC File No. 270–306. 

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 collection 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. 

Rule 701 (17 CFR 230.701) under the 

Securities Act of 1933 (‘‘Securities Act’’) 

(15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) provides an 

exemption for certain issuers from the 

registration requirements of the 

Securities Act for limited offerings and 

sales of securities issued under 

compensatory benefit plans or contracts. 

The purpose of Rule 701 is to ensure 

that a basic level of information is 

available to employees and others when 

substantial amounts of securities are 

issued in compensatory arrangements. 

Approximately 300 companies annually 

rely on the Rule 701 exemption. The 

Rule 701 disclosure takes an estimated 

2 hours per response to prepare for a 

total annual burden of 600 hours. We 

estimate that 25% of the 2 hours per 

response (0.5 hours) is prepared by the 

company for a total annual reporting 

burden of 150 hours (0.5 hours per 

response × 300 responses). 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether this 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. 

Please direct your written comments 

to Thomas Bayer, Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, C/O Remi Pavlik-Simon, 

6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22312; or send an e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: November 22, 2010. 

Elizabeth M. Murphy, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29889 Filed 11–26–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63363; File No. S7–04–09] 

Order Extending Temporary 

Conditional Exemption for Nationally 

Recognized Statistical Rating 

Organizations From Requirements of 

Rule 17g–5 Under the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 and Request for 

Comment 

November 23, 2010. 

I. Introduction 

On May 19, 2010, the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) 

conditionally exempted, with respect to 

certain credit ratings and until 

December 2, 2010, nationally recognized 

statistical rating organizations 

(‘‘NRSROs’’) from certain requirements 

in Rule 17g–5(a)(3) 1 under the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Exchange Act’’), which had a 

compliance date of June 2, 2010.2

Pursuant to the Order, an NRSRO is not 

required to comply with Rule 17g– 

5(a)(3) until December 2, 2010 with 

respect to credit ratings where: (1) The 

issuer of the structured finance product 

is a non-U.S. person; and (2) the NRSRO 

has a reasonable basis to conclude that 

the structured finance product will be 

offered and sold upon issuance, and that 

any arranger linked to the structured 

finance product will effect transactions 

of the structured finance product after 

issuance, only in transactions that occur 

outside the U.S. (‘‘covered 

transactions’’).3 The Commission is 

extending the temporary conditional 

exemption exempting NRSROs from 

complying with Rule 17g–5(a)(3) with 

respect to rating covered transactions 

until December 2, 2011. 

II. Background 

Rule 17g–5 identifies, in paragraphs 

(b) and (c) of the rule, a series of 

conflicts of interest arising from the 

business of determining credit ratings.4

Paragraph (a) of Rule 17g–5 5 prohibits 

an NRSRO from issuing or maintaining 

a credit rating if it is subject to the 

conflicts of interest identified in 

paragraph (b) of Rule 17g–5 unless the 

NRSRO has taken the steps prescribed 

in paragraph (a)(1) (i.e., disclosed the 

type of conflict of interest in Exhibit 6 

to Form NRSRO in accordance with 

Section 15E(a)(1)(B)(vi) of the Exchange 

Act 6 and Rule 17g–1) 7 and paragraph 

(a)(2) (i.e., established and is 

maintaining and enforcing written 

policies and procedures to address and 

manage conflicts of interest in 

accordance with Section 15E(h) of the 

Exchange Act).8 Paragraph (c) of Rule 

17g–5 specifically prohibits seven types 

of conflicts of interest. Consequently, an 

NRSRO is prohibited from issuing or 

maintaining a credit rating when it is 

subject to these conflicts regardless of 

whether it had disclosed them and 

established procedures reasonably 

designed to address them. 

In December 2009, the Commission 

adopted subparagraph (a)(3) to Rule 

17g–5. This provision requires an 

NRSRO that is hired by an arranger to 

determine an initial credit rating for a 

structured finance product to take 

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