Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 178 / Thursday, September 13, 2018 / Notices 46527 

3See Rule 154(c). 

4The Commission estimates that 200 mutual 

funds prepare both the implied consent notice and 

the annual explanation of the right to revoke 

consent + 100 mutual funds that prepare only the 

annual explanation of the right to revoke. 

154 for the householding of 

prospectuses relating to open-end 

management investment companies that 

are registered under the Investment 

Company Act of 1940 (‘‘mutual funds’’) 

must explain to investors who have 

provided written or implied consent 

how they can revoke their consent.3

Preparing and sending the notice and 

the annual explanation of the right to 

revoke are collections of information. 

The rule allows issuers, underwriters, 

or dealers to household prospectuses if 

certain conditions are met. Among the 

conditions with which a person relying 

on the rule must comply are providing 

notice to each investor that only one 

prospectus will be sent to the household 

and, in the case of issuers that are 

mutual funds, providing to each 

investor who consents to householding 

an annual explanation of the right to 

revoke consent to the delivery of a 

single prospectus to multiple investors 

sharing an address. The purpose of the 

notice and annual explanation 

requirements of the rule is to ensure that 

investors who wish to receive 

individual copies of prospectuses are 

able to do so. 

Although rule 154 is not limited to 

mutual funds, the Commission believes 

that it is used mainly by mutual funds 

and by broker-dealers that deliver 

prospectuses for mutual funds. The 

Commission is unable to estimate the 

number of issuers other than mutual 

funds that rely on the rule. 

The Commission estimates that, as of 

August 2018, there are approximately 

1,590 mutual funds, approximately 400 

of which engage in direct marketing and 

therefore deliver their own 

prospectuses. Of the approximately 400 

mutual funds that engage in direct 

marketing, the Commission estimates 

that approximately half of these mutual 

funds (200) (i) do not send the implied 

consent notice requirement because 

they obtain affirmative written consent 

to household prospectuses in the fund’s 

account opening documentation; or (ii) 

do not take advantage of the 

householding provision because of 

electronic delivery options which lessen 

the economic and operational benefits 

of rule 154 when compared with the 

costs of compliance. 

The Commission estimates that there 

are approximately 175 broker-dealers 

that carry customer accounts for the 

remaining mutual funds and therefore 

may be required to deliver mutual fund 

prospectuses. The Commission 

estimates that each affected brokerdealer will spend, on average, 20 hours 

complying with the notice requirement 

of the rule, for a total of 3,500 hours. 

Therefore, the total number of 

respondents for rule 154 is 475 (300 4

mutual funds plus 175 broker-dealers), 

and the estimated total hour burden is 

approximately 7,975 hours (4,300 hours 

for mutual funds plus 3,675 hours for 

broker-dealers). 

The estimate of average burden hours 

is made solely for the purposes of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not 

derived from a comprehensive or even 

a representative survey or study of the 

costs of Commission rules and forms. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the collections of information 

are necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information has practical utility; (b) the 

accuracy of the Commission’s estimate 

of the burden of the collections of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collections 

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 Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, C/O Candace 

Kenner, 100 F Street NE, Washington, 

DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: September 7, 2018. 

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19881 Filed 9–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–335, OMB Control No. 

3235–0381] 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon Written Request Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 

100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 

20549–2736 

Extension: 

Form 40–F 

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 this 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

Form 40–F (17 CFR 249.240f) is used 

by certain Canadian issuers to register a 

class of securities pursuant to Section 

12(b) or (g) of the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934 (‘‘Exchange Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 

78l) or as an annual report pursuant to 

Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange 

Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a) or 78o(d)). The 

information required in the Form 40–F 

is used by investors in making 

investment decisions with respect to the 

securities of such Canadian companies. 

We estimate that Form 40–F takes 

approximately 429.93 hours per 

response and is filed by approximately 

132 respondents. We estimate that 25% 

of the 429.93 hours per response (107.48 

hours) is prepared by the issuer for a 

total reporting burden of 14,187 (107.48 

hours per response × 132 responses). 

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. 

The public may view the background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following website, 

www.reginfo.gov. 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 email to: 

Lindsay.M.Abate@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) 

Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Candace 

Kenner, 100 F Street, NE, Washington, 

DC 20549 or send an email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be 

submitted to OMB within 30 days of 

this notice. 

Dated: September 7, 2018. 

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–19879 Filed 9–12–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 


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