4104 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 18 / Tuesday, January 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 202

[Release Nos. 33–7382, 34–38189; IC–22477,

IA–1608]

Designation of Small Business

Compliance Guides

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission.

ACTION: Policy statement.

SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange

Commission has designated several of

its publications that assist small entities

in complying with Commission rules as

small business compliance guides, as

required by the Small Business

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of

1996. The Commission has also

determined to include in the Code of

Federal Regulations the list of small

business compliance guides and

information concerning how members

of the public may obtain them.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 28, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anne H. Sullivan at (202–942–0954) or

Penelope W. Saltzman at (202–942–

0915), Office of the General Counsel.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Designation of Compliance Guides in

the Code of Federal Regulations

On March 29, 1996, Congress adopted

the Small Business Regulatory Fairness

Act, Pub. L. 104–121, 110 Stat. 857

(1996), which directs agencies to make

available to small entities as defined by

the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C.

601 et seq. ‘‘small entity compliance

guides’’ (‘‘compliance guides’’) for each

rule or group of rules for which the

agencies prepare a final regulatory

flexibility analysis under the Regulatory

Flexibility Act. The Commission is

adding a new section 202.8 to the Code

of Federal Regulations, which will list

the Commission’s compliance guides

and how to obtain them. The

Commission will review all existing

small entity compliance guides annually

to determine their adequacy and to

revise them, as appropriate.

The Commission has designated the

following publications as compliance

guides:

Q & A: Small Business and the SEC

The Work of the SEC

Broker-Dealer Registration Package

Investment Adviser Registration

Package

Investment Company Registration

Package

Examination Information for BrokerDealers, Transfer Agents, Investment

Advisers and Investment Companies

Publications and Information on

Request

The Commission makes these

compliance guides as well as other

information available to the public

through the following sources, some of

which are specifically designed for

small businesses:

The Commission makes available free

copies of ‘‘Q & A: Small Business and

the SEC,’’ ‘‘The Work of the SEC,’’ the

registration packages, and the

Examination Information in its

Publications Room at the Commission’s

headquarters at 450 Fifth Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20549 (202–942–8090)

or at the regional offices. Members of

the public, including small businesses,

also may obtain free copies of these

publications by calling the

Commission’s toll-free telephone

number (800–SEC–0330), the Office of

Small Business Policy at (202) 942–

2950, the Publications Room (202) 942–

4040, or the Office of Investor Education

and Assistance (202) 942–7040.

The World Wide Web. The

Commission’s World Wide Web site

provides information on the SEC, its

mission, and its initiatives. The Web

site includes a page that contains

information of special interest to small

businesses, in particular, ‘‘Q & A: Small

Business and the SEC,’’ ‘‘The Work of

the SEC,’’ and a list of pending and

completed SEC rulemakings of

particular relevance to small businesses.

Members of the public can also

communicate with the Commission

through the Commission’s Internet

mailboxes. These include,

‘‘help@sec.gov’’ for requests made to the

Office of Investor Education and

Assistance, ‘‘enforcement@sec.gov’’ for

complaints and reports to the Division

of Enforcement, ‘‘e-prospectus@sec.gov’’

for comments about electronic

prospectuses and Internet issues, and

‘‘rule-comments@sec.gov’’ for public

comment on current proposed rules. In

addition, the Commission homepage

provides for direct query capability for

information posted on the Web site and

in the EDGAR filings database.

The Commission provides the

following additional sources for other

information and informal guidance:

Filings and Releases On Request.

Pursuant to Commission rule, 17 CFR

200.80, the following Commission

records (excluding nonpublic items

specified in the rule) are available for

public inspection or copying:

• Commission opinions;

• Statements of policy adopted by the

Commission;

• Certain staff manuals and

instructions;

• Indices of opinions and statements

of policy;

• Required filings with the

Commission which are not confidential;

• Requests or petitions for a change in

Commission rules, a no-action or

interpretive letter, or an exemption from

Commission regulation;

• Transcripts of public proceedings;

and

• Commission reports to Congress.

Copies of Commission releases and

disclosure documents filed with the

Commission are available through the

Commission’s Public Reference Room

(202–942–8090) for a copying charge of

$.24 per page.

Special Ombudsman. The

Commission has appointed a Special

Ombudsman to serve as the liaison and

agency spokesman for the concerns of

small business. In addition to receiving

information from small businesses

concerning the impact of Commission

rules and regulations, the Special

Ombudsman will help small businesses

in obtaining Commission publications

and other information regarding the

Commission’s regulations. The Special

Ombudsman can be reached at (202)

942–2950. In addition, the Office of

Municipal Securities has designated a

Municipal Securities Ombudsman for

matters affecting municipal securities

issuers, many of which qualify as small

governments under the Regulatory

Flexibility Act. The telephone number

for the Municipal Securities

Ombudsman is (202) 942–7300.

Small Business Liaisons. In addition

to the Special Ombudsman for small

business, small business liaisons are

assigned in each of the Commission’s

regional offices for small businesses to

contact for assistance.

Public Inquiry Numbers. The

Divisions of Corporation Finance,

Investment Management, and Market

Regulation maintain public inquiry

numbers at which members of the

public may obtain informal guidance

regarding rules and statutory provisions

administered by those Divisions. Those

telephone numbers are:

Division of Corporation Finance: (202)

942–2900

Division of Investment Management:

(202) 942–0659

Division of Market Regulation: (202)

942–0069

Regulatory Requirements

The designation of the Commission’s

compliance guides is not an agency rule

and, therefore, the provisions of the

Administrative Procedure Act (‘‘APA’’)

regarding notice of proposed

rulemaking, opportunities for public
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 18 / Tuesday, January 28, 1997 / Rules and Regulations 4105

1 5 U.S.C. 553.

2 5 U.S.C. 601–602.

1These items are also available on the Securities

and Exchange Commission Web site on the Internet,

http://www.sec.gov.

participation, and prior publication 1 are

not applicable. Similarly, the provisions

of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 2

which apply only when notice and

comment are required by the APA or

another statute, are not applicable.

List of Subjects in 17 CFR Part 202

Administrative practice and

procedure.

Text of Amendment

In accordance with the foregoing, 17

CFR, Chapter II, is amended as follows:

PART 202—INFORMAL AND OTHER

PROCEDURES

1. The authority citation for Part 202

continues to read in part as follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77s, 77t, 78d–1, 78u,

78w, 7811(d), 79r, 79t, 77sss, 77uuu, 80a–37,

80a–41, 80b–9, and 80b–11, unless otherwise

noted.

* * * * *

2. Section 202.8 is added to read as

follows:

§ 202.8 Small entity compliance guides.

The following small entity

compliance guides are available to the

public from the Commission’s

Publications Room and regional offices:

(a) Q & A: Small Business and the

SEC.1

(b) The Work of the SEC.1

(c) Broker-Dealer Registration

Package.

(d) Investment Adviser Registration

Package.

(e) Investment Company Registration

Package.

(f) Examination Information for

Broker-Dealers, Transfer Agents,

Investment Advisers and Investment

Companies.

By the Commission.

Dated: January 22, 1997.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–2009 Filed 1–27–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P