19038 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 61 / Thursday, March 29, 2012 / Notices 

1Rule 8b–3 (17 CFR 270.8b–3) provides that 

whenever a registration form requires the title of 

securities to be stated, the registrant must indicate 

the type and general character of the securities to 

be issued. Rule 8b–22 (17 CFR 270.8b–22) provides 

that if the existence of control is open to reasonable 

doubt, the registrant may disclaim the existence of 

control, but it must state the material facts pertinent 

to the possible existence of control. 

approximately 332, would be required 

to complete the entire Form TA–2, 

which the Commission estimates would 

take about 6 hours, for a total of 1,992 

hours (332 × 6 hours). The aggregate 

annual burden on all 473 transfer agents 

registered with the Commission as of 

November 1, 2011, is thus 

approximately 2,174 hours (15 hours + 

166.5 hours + 1,992 hours). 

We estimate that the total cost of 

reviewing and entering the information 

reported on the Forms TA–2 for 

respondents is $41.50 per hour. The 

Commission estimates that the total 

internal labor cost of complying with 

the rule and form requirements would 

be $90,221 annually ($41.50 × 2,174). 

This, however, is solely a monetization 

of the hour burden and is not a separate 

cost burden. 

This rule does not involve the 

collection of confidential information. 

The Commission may not conduct or 

sponsor a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) control number. No person 

shall be subject to any penalty for failing 

to comply with a collection of 

information subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act that does not display a 

valid OMB control number. 

Background documentation for this 

information collection may be viewed at 

the following Web site, 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: Shagufta_Ahmed@

omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Thomas Bayer, 

Director/Chief Information Officer, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 6432 General 

Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or 

send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.

gov. Comments must be submitted to 

OMB within 30 days of this notice. 

Dated: March 23, 2012. 

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7521 Filed 3–28–12; 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 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213. 

Extension: 

Rules 8b–1 to 8b–33, SEC File No. 270– 

135, OMB Control No. 3235–0176. 

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’’) is soliciting comments 

on the collection of information 

summarized below. The Commission 

plans to submit this existing collection 

of information to the Office of 

Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for 

extension and approval. 

Rules 8b–1 to 8b–33 (17 CFR 270.8b– 

1 to 8b–33) under the Investment 

Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 

et seq.) (‘‘Investment Company Act’’) 

were adopted to standardize the 

mechanics of registration under the 

Investment Company Act and to provide 

more specific guidance for persons 

registering under the Investment 

Company Act than the information 

contained in the statute. For the most 

part, these procedural rules do not 

require the disclosure of information. 

Two of the rules, however, require 

limited disclosure of information.1 The 

information required by the rules is 

necessary to ensure that investors have 

clear and complete information upon 

which to base an investment decision. 

The Commission uses the information 

that investment companies provide on 

registration statements in its regulatory, 

disclosure review, inspection and 

policy-making roles. The respondents to 

the collection of information are 

investment companies filing registration 

statements under the Investment 

Company Act. 

The Commission does not estimate 

separately the total annual reporting and 

recordkeeping burden associated with 

rules 8b-1 to 8b-33 because the burden 

associated with these rules are included 

in the burden estimates the Commission 

submits for the investment company 

registration statement forms (e.g., Form 

N–1A (17 CFR 239.15A and 274.11A), 

Form N–2 (17 CFR 239.14 and 274.11a– 

1), Form N–3 (17 CFR 239.17a and 

274.11b), Form N–4 (17 CFR 239.17b 

and 274.11c), and Form N–6 (17 CFR 

239.17c and 274.11d)). For example, a 

mutual fund that prepares a registration 

statement on Form N–1A must comply 

with the rules under Section 8(b), 

including rules on riders, amendments, 

the form of the registration statement, 

and the number of copies to be 

submitted. Because the fund only incurs 

a burden from the Section 8(b) rules 

when preparing a registration statement, 

it would be impractical to measure the 

compliance burden of these rules 

separately. The Commission believes 

that including the burden of the Section 

8(b) rules with the burden estimates for 

the investment company registration 

statement forms provides a more 

accurate and complete estimate of the 

total burdens associated with the 

registration process. For administrative 

purposes, however, we are requesting 

approval for an information collection 

burden of one hour per year. This 

estimate of burden hours is not derived 

from a comprehensive or necessarily 

even representative study of the cost of 

the Commission’s rules and forms. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection 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 Thomas Bayer, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Remi PavlikSimon, 6432 General Green Way, 

Alexandria, VA 22312; or send an email 

to PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: March 23, 2012. 

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7520 Filed 3–28–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

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