[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 192 (Thursday, October 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69241-69242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-22187]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-424, OMB Control No. 3235-0473]


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 17Ad-
3(b)

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 
20549-2736

    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'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') a request for approval of extension of the 
previously approved collection of information provided for in Rule 
17Ad-3(b) (17 CFR 240.17Ad-3(b)), under the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).
    Rule 17Ad-3(b) requires registered transfer agents to send a copy 
of the written notice required under Rules 17Ad-2(c), (d), and (h) to 
the chief executive officer of each issuer for which the transfer agent 
acts when it has failed to turnaround at least 75% of all routine items 
in accordance with the requirements of Rule 17Ad-2(a), or to process at 
least 75% of all items in accordance with the requirements of Rule 
17Ad-2(b), for two consecutive months. The issuer may use the 
information contained in the notices: (1) as an early warning of the 
transfer agent's non-compliance with the Commission's minimum 
performance standards regarding registered transfer agents; and (2) to 
become aware of certain problems and poor performances with respect to 
the transfer agents that are servicing the issuer's issues. If the 
issuer does not receive notice of a registered transfer agent's failure 
to comply with the Commission's minimum performance standards, then the 
issuer will be unable to take remedial action to correct the problem or 
to find another registered transfer agent. Pursuant to Rule 17Ad-3(b), 
a transfer agent that has already filed a Notice of Non-Compliance with 
the Commission pursuant to Rule 17Ad-2 will only be required to send a 
copy of that notice to issuers for which it acts when that transfer 
agent fails to turnaround 75% of all routine items or to process 75% of 
all items for two consecutive months.
    The Commission estimates that only one transfer agent will be 
subject to the third-party disclosure requirements of

[[Page 69242]]

Rule 17Ad-3(b) each year. If a transfer agent fails to meet the 
turnaround and processing requirements under 17Ad-3(b), it would simply 
send its issuer-clients a copy of the notice that had already been 
produced for the Commission pursuant to Rule 17Ad-2(c) or (d). The 
Commission estimates the requirement will take the transfer agent 
approximately four hours to complete. The total estimated burden 
associated with Rule 17Ad-3(b) is thus approximately 4 hours per year. 
The Commission estimates that the internal compliance cost for the 
transfer agent to comply with this third-party disclosure requirement 
will be approximately $1,128 per year (4 hours x $283 per hour = 
$1,128). The total estimated internal cost of compliance associated 
with Rule 17Ad-3(b) is thus approximately $1,128 per year. There are no 
external costs associated with sending the notice to issuer-clients.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB 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 by November 6, 2023 to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information 
Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3a6a687b65775b53565855427a495f59145d554c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="93c3c1d2ccdef2fafff1fcebd3e0f6f0bdf4fce5">[email protected]</span></a>.

    Dated: October 2, 2023.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-22187 Filed 10-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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