46386 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 169 / Tuesday, September 2, 1997 / Notices

special access needs wishing to attend

should contact OPM at the number shown

below to obtain appropriate

accommodations.

Matters to be Considered: This meeting

will consist of an awards ceremony. The

winners of the 1997 National Partnership

Award will be announced; and the winners

will receive their awards. The National

Partnership Award is given in recognition of

outstanding labor-management partnership

activities.

Contact Person for More Information:

Michael Cushing, Director, Center for

Partnership and Labor-Management

Relations, Office of Personnel Management,

Theodore Roosevelt Building, 1900 E Street,

NW., Room 7H28, Washington, DC 20415–

0001, (202) 606–2930.

Office of Personnel Management.

James B. King,

Director.

[FR Doc. 97–23223 Filed 8–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6325–01–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 1(a), (b)

Form U5A, U5B, File No. 270–168, OMB

Control No. 3235–0170

Rule 3

Form U–3A3–1, File No. 270–77, OMB

Control No. 3235–0160

Rule 26, File No. 270–78, OMB Control No.

3235–0183

Rule 44, File No. 270–162, OMB Control No.

3235–0147

Rule 62,

Form U–R–1, File No. 270–166, OMB

Control No. 3235–0152

Rule 88

Form U–13–1, File No. 270–80, OMB

Control No. 3235–0182

Rule 95

Form U–13E–1, File No. 270–74, OMB

Control No. 3235–0162

Form U–7D, File No. 270–75, OMB Control

No. 3235–0165

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.

Rules 1(a) and 1(b) [17 CFR 250.1(a),

250.1(b)] and Forms U5A and U5B [17

CFR 259.5a, 259.5b] implement Sections

5(a) and 5(b) of the Public Utility

Holding Company Act of 1935, as

amended (‘‘Act’’), which require any

holding company or any person

proposing to become a holding company

to file with the Commission a

notification of registration and

registration statement, respectively. The

information is necessary for the

Commission to determine whether a

new registrant is in compliance with the

Act. The initial burden of this

requirement is approximately 80 hours

per respondent. Historically, there has

been one respondent approximately

every four years, therefore the weighted

annual burden over a four year period

is 20 hours. Companies filing under this

rule are required to retain records for a

period of ten years, and the provision of

the information is mandatory. The

retention time period allows the

Commission the opportunity to perform

its audit functions. Responses are not

kept confidential.

Rule 3 [17 CFR 250.3] permits a bank

that is also a public utility holding

company to claim an exemption from

the requirements of the Act, through the

submission of an annual statement on

Form U–3A3–1 [17 CFR 259.403]. The

rule and the form are used by the

Commission staff to expedite its review

of compliance with Section 3(a)(4) of

the Act. Rule 3 and Form U–3A3–1

permit a bank that is also a public utility

holding company to avoid the burdens

associated with an application for an

exemption from the requirements of the

Act. An Application for an exemption

would involve a formal order, which

might require an administrative hearing

and would otherwise consume a

significant amount of Commission

resources. Each year the Commission

receives five submissions from banks;

each takes about two hours to complete.

Thus a total burden of ten hours is

imposed. Banks that are required to file

under this rule are to retain the records

for a period of ten years. This retention

period is consistent with requirements

imposed by federal agencies that

regulate banks. Banks are allowed to

request confidential treatment of

information filed under this rule.

Rule 26 [17 CFR 250.26] sets forth the

financial statement and recordkeeping

requirements for registered holding

companies and their subsidiaries. This

information collection is of fundamental

importance to the Commission in the

review of financial statements or

registered public utility holding

companies. The Commission reviews

financial statements in connection with

its review of proposals submitted for

approval under several provisions of the

Act. The rule imposes no annual burden

because there is no form, as such, under

Rule 26 and because the information is

required for Form U5S, which is subject

to separate OMB review. In addition,

there is no requirement for record

retention under this rule.

Rule 44 [17 CFR 250.44] prohibits

sales of utility securities or utility assets

owned by registered public utility

holding companies, except pursuant to

a declaration notifying the Commission

of the proposed transaction, which

becomes effective in accordance with

the procedure specified in 17 CFR

250.23, and pursuant to the order of the

Commission with respect to such

declaration under the applicable

provisions of the Act. The information

is essential to Commission

administration of Section 12(d) of the

Act and is not otherwise available. The

Commission analyzes the information to

determine if the proposed sale is

consistent with the public interest. The

rule imposes a burden of about 72 hours

each year on three respondents, each of

which makes one submission. There is

no requirement for record retention

under this rule and the submissions are

not kept confidential.

Rule 62 [17 CFR 250.62] prohibits the

solicitation of authorization regarding

any security of a regulated company in

connection with reorganization subject

to Commission approval or regarding

any transaction which is the subject of

an application or declaration, except

pursuant to a declaration regarding the

solicitation which has become effective.

The information is necessary to permit

the Commission to adequately enforce

Sections 12(e) and 11(g) of the Act. The

rule and form U–R–1 [17 CFR 259.221]

impose a total annual burden of 50

hours on ten companies, who each

spend five hours, and file once

annually. There is a three year record

retention under this rule and the

submission, are not kept confidential.

Rule 88 [17 CFR 250.88] requires the

filing of Form U–13–1 [17 CFR 259.113]

for a mutual or subsidiary service

company performing services for

affiliate companies of a holding

company system. Eighteen respondents

initially spend a total of approximately

36 hours meeting this requirements.

Thereafter, there is no annual burden.

Service companies filing under this rule

are required to retain records for a

period of ten years, and the provision of

the information is mandatory. The

retention time period allows the

Commission the opportunity to perform

its audit functions. Responses are not

kept confidential.

Rule 95 [17 CFR 250.95] requires

service companies to file reports on

Form U–13E–1 [17 CFR 259.213] with

the Commission prior to their
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 169 / Tuesday, September 2, 1997 / Notices 46387

performance of contracts for registered

holding companies or their subsidiaries,

for services, construction, or sales of

goods. The Commission requires this

information to enforce the provisions of

Section 13(e) and Section 13(f) of the

Act. The enforcement of these statutes

would be compromised without the

collection of this information, which is

not available from other sources.

Companies that file under this rule are

required to retain records for a period of

six years, and the provision of this

information is required. The retention

period allows the Commission to

perform its audit functions. One

company meets this requirement on an

annual basis with an estimated average

burden of two hours. This information

is not kept confidential.

Form U–7D [17 CFR 259.404]

establishes the filing company’s right to

the exemption authorized for financing

entities holding title to utility assets

leased to a utility company. The

information is necessary for the

Commission to determine whether a

company is exempt from, or governed

by, the Act. The form imposes a total

annual burden of 126 hours on 42

respondents, who each spend three

hours annually preparing and filing one

response. Companies filing under this

rule are required to retain records for a

period of ten years, and the provision of

the information is mandatory. The

retention time period allows the

Commission the opportunity to perform

its audit functions, and generally

coincides with companies’ obligation

period under their respective leases.

Responses are not kept confidential.

The estimates of average burden hours

are made for the purposes of the

Paperwork Reduction Act and are not

derived from a comprehensive or even

a representative survey or study of the

costs of Commission rules and forms.

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.

Written comments regarding the

above information should be directed to

the following persons: (i) Desk Officer

for the Securities and Exchange

Commission, Office of Information and

Regulatory Affairs, Office of

Management and Budget, Room 3208,

New Executive Office Building,

Washington, D.C. 20503; and (ii)

Michael E. Bartell, Associate Executive

Director, Office of Information

Technology, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549. Comments

must be submitted to OMB within 30

days of this notice.

Dated: August 25, 1997.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–23136 Filed 8–29–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Rel. No. IC–22798; File No. 812–10364]

Monarch Life Insurance Company, et

al.

August 25, 1997.

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’).

ACTION: Notice of Application for an

Order under the Investment Company

Act of 1940 (‘‘1940 Act’’).

APPLICANTS: Monarch Life Insurance

Company (‘‘Monarch Life’’) and

Monarch Separate Account VA

(‘‘Separate Account VA’’).

RELEVANT 1940 ACT SECTIONS: Order

requested under Section 26(b).

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants

seek an order approving the substitution

of shares of certain funds (‘‘Funds’’) of

Merrill Lynch Variable Series Funds,

Inc. (‘‘ML Fund’’) for shares of certain

series (‘‘Portfolios’’) of Variable

Investors Series Trust (‘‘VIST’’) held by

Separate Account VA to fund certain

variable annuity contracts (‘‘Contracts’’)

issued by Monarch Life.

FILING DATE: The Application was filed

on September 25, 1996, and an

amendment thereto was filed on May

29, 1997.

HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An

order granting the application will be

issued unless the Commission orders a

hearing. Interested persons may request

a hearing by writing to the Secretary of

the Commission and serving Applicants

with a copy of the request, personally or

by mail. Hearing requests should be

received by the Commission by 5:30

p.m., on September 19, 1997, and

should be accompanied by proof of

service on Applicants in the form of an

affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate of

service. Hearing request should state the

nature of the requester’s interest, the

reason for the request, and the issues

contested. Persons may request

notification of a hearing by writing to

the Secretary of the Commission.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, Securities and

Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street,

N.W., Washington, DC 20549.

Applicants, c/o Raymond A. O’Hara III,

Esq., Blazzard, Grodd & Hasenauer, P.C.,

P.O. Box 5108, Westport, Connecticut,

06881. Copies to John S. Coulton, Esq.,

Monarch Life Insurance Company, One

Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01133.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joyce Merrick Pickholz, Senior Counsel,

or Kevin M. Kirchoff, Branch Chief,

Office of Insurance Products (Division

of Investment Management), at (202)

942–0670.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Following

is a summary of the Application. The

complete Application is available for a

free from the Public Reference Branch of

the Commission.

Applicants’ Representations

Background

1. Monarch Life was incorporated in

1901 and is domiciled in Massachusetts.

Monarch Life is a wholly-owned

subsidiary of Regal Reinsurance

Company (‘‘Regal Re’’), formerly

Monarch Capital Corporation

(‘‘Monarch Capital’’). On September 23,

1992, pursuant to a reorganization

under Chapter 11 of the Federal

Bankruptcy Code, Monarch Capital was

reorganized and emerged from

bankruptcy as a Massachusetts life

insurer, Regal Re. Regal Re is owned by

Monarch Capital’s pre-bankruptcy

secured and unsecured creditors.

2. On June 9, 1994, the Insurance

Commissioner of the Commonwealth of

Massachusetts (the ‘‘Commissioner’’)

was appointed receiver (the ‘‘Receiver’’)

of Monarch Life in a rehabilitation

proceeding pending before the Supreme

Judicial Court for Suffolk County,

Massachusetts (the ‘‘Court’’).

3. A term sheet dated July 19, 1994

(the ‘‘Term Sheet’’) among the

Commissioner (in her capacity as

Commissioner and Receiver) and certain

Regal Re shareholders and noteholders

and holders of Monarch Life’s surplus

notes (representing approximately 85%

of both the total outstanding Regal Re

notes and common stock) (the

‘‘Holders’’) was approved by the Court

on September 1, 1994. Pursuant to the

Term Sheet, the Holders transferred

their notes and stock into voting trusts

for which the Commissioner is the sole

trustee, which effectively vests control

of Regal Re and Monarch Life in the

Commissioner.

4. Insurance department of various

jurisdictions have either suspended the

certificate of authority of Monarch Life,

ordered Monarch Life to cease writing

new business, or have requested a

voluntary suspension of sales by

Monarch Life. In addition, Monarch

Life’s certificate of authority has been

revoked by the insurance departments

of the states of Louisiana on May 13,

1994, Michigan on February 27, 1994,