Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 184 / Friday, September 22, 2006 / Notices 55525 

1However, the staff further estimates that the 

number of respondents decreases by at least that 

many firms per year as a result of mergers and other 

business factors. 

sheets (‘‘EBS’’) requests. The 

Commission uses the information for 

enforcement inquiries or investigations 

and trading reconstructions, as well as 

for inspections and examinations. 

The Commission estimates that it 

sends approximately 27,000 electronic 

blue sheet requests per year. 

Accordingly, the annual aggregate hour 

burden for electronic and manual 

response firms is estimated to be 3,564 

hours and 405 hours, respectively. In 

addition, the Commission estimates that 

it will request 1,400 broker-dealers to 

supply the contact information 

identified in Rule 17a–25(c) and 

estimates the total aggregate burden 

hours to be 350. Thus, the annual 

aggregate burden for all respondents to 

the collection of information 

requirements of Rule 17a–25 is 

estimated at 4,319 hours. 

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. 

General comments regarding the 

estimated burden hours should be 

directed to the Desk Officer for the 

Securities and Exchange Commission at 

the address below. Any comments 

concerning the accuracy of the 

estimated average burden hours for 

compliance with Commission rules and 

forms should be directed to (i) the Desk 

Officer for the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Room 10102, 

New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503 or by sending an 

e-mail to: David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; 

and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley 

Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22312 or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Comments must be submitted to OMB 

within 30 days of this notice. 

Dated: September 11, 2006. 

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 06–7996 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information Services, Washington, DC 

20549. 

Extension: 

Rules 17h–1T and 17h–2T, SEC File No. 

270–359, OMB Control No. 3235–0410. 

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’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

requests for extension of the previously 

approved collections of information 

discussed below. 

Rule 17h–1T (17 CFR 240.17h–1T) 

under the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (the ‘‘Act’’) 

requires a broker-dealer to maintain and 

preserve records and other information 

concerning certain entities that are 

associated with the broker-dealer. This 

requirement extends to the financial and 

securities activities of the holding 

company, affiliates and subsidiaries of 

the broker-dealer that are reasonably 

likely to have a material impact on the 

financial or operational condition of the 

broker-dealer. Rule 17h–2T (17 CFR 

240.17h–2T) under the Act requires a 

broker-dealer to file with the 

Commission quarterly reports and a 

cumulative year-end report concerning 

the information required to be 

maintained and preserved under Rule 

17h–1T. 

The collection of information required 

by Rules 17h–1T and 17h–2T is 

necessary to enable the Commission to 

monitor the activities of a broker-dealer 

affiliate whose business activities is 

reasonably likely to have a material 

impact on the financial and operational 

condition of the broker-dealer. Without 

this information, the Commission would 

be unable to assess the potentially 

damaging impact of the affiliate’s 

activities on the broker-dealer. 

There are currently 200 respondents 

that must comply with Rules 17h–1T 

and 17h–2T. Each of these 200 

respondents require approximately 10 

hours per year, or 2.5 hours per quarter, 

to maintain the records required under 

Rule 17h–1T, for an aggregate annual 

burden of 2,000 hours (200 respondents 

× 10 hours). In addition, each of these 

200 respondents must make five annual 

responses under Rule 17h–2T. These 

five responses require approximately 14 

hours per respondent per year, or 3.5 

hours per quarter, for an aggregate 

annual burden of 2,800 hours (200 

respondents × 14 hours). In addition, 

there are approximately five new 

respondents per year 1 that must draft an 

organizational chart required under 

Rule 17h–1T and establish a system for 

complying with the Rules. The staff 

estimates that drafting the required 

organizational chart requires one hour 

and establishing a system for complying 

with the Rules requires three hours, 

thus requiring an aggregate of 20 hours 

(5 new respondents × 4 hours). Thus, 

the total compliance burden per year is 

approximately 4,820 burden hours 

(2,000 + 2,800 + 20). 

Rule 17h–1T specifies that the records 

required to be maintained under the 

Rule must be preserved for a period of 

not less than three years. There is no 

specific retention period or record 

keeping requirement for Rule 17h–2T. 

The collection of information is 

mandatory and the information required 

to be provided to the Commission 

pursuant to these Rules are deemed 

confidential, notwithstanding any other 

provision of law under section 17(h)(5) 

of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78q(h)(5)) and 

section 552(b)(3)(B) of the Freedom of 

Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3)(B)). 

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. 

Comments should be directed to (i) 

Desk Officer for the Securities and 

Exchange Commission, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Room 10102, New Executive Office 

Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by 

sending an e-mail to: 

David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. 

Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 

6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, 

Virginia 22312 or send an e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must 

be submitted to OMB within 30 days of 

this notice. 

Dated: September 11, 2006. 

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 06–7997 Filed 9–21–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon written request, copies available 

from: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information Services, Washington, DC 

20549. 

Extension: 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES