76314 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 6, 2000 / Notices

will be computed in the manner set

forth in the Trust’s Form N–1A

registration statement as currently in

effect with the Commission. The

aforementioned Acquiring Fund shares

will be issued pro-rata to the Acquired

Fund’s shareholders of record as of the

Effective Time.

9. The Trust’s Board, including all of

the Independent Trustees, determined

that participation in the reorganization

is in the best interests of the

shareholders and Contract Owners

participating in each of the Acquired

and Acquiring Funds and that the

interests of existing shareholders and

Owners will not be diluted as a result

of the reorganization. In approving the

reorganization, the following factors,

among others, were relevant to the

Board: (a) That, because of breakpoints,

combining the Acquired Fund and the

Acquiring Fund will result in a lower

effective rate of advisory fees and other

expenses for the Acquired Fund and, to

a lesser extent, for the Acquiring Fund;

(b) that the funds’ investment programs

are essentially identical, which means

that there will be no need to liquidate

and reinvest any portfolio securities in

connection with the reorganization; (c)

the fact that John Hancock will bear all

other direct or indirect costs and

expenses associated with the

reorganization; (d) the tax-free nature of

the reorganization; and (e) that the

reorganization presents no foreseeable

disadvantages to either fund or to any

Owner.

10. The Plan is subject to a number of

conditions precedent, including that the

reorganization will have been approved

by the vote of shareholders of the

Acquired Fund. In connection with that

vote, the Insurance Companies have

solicited instructions from Owners as to

how to vote the Acquired Fund’s

outstanding shares. This solicitation

will be made pursuant to a Form N–14

registration statement that the Trust

filed with the Commission on October

10, 2000. Applicants assert that shares

of the Acquired Fund for which no

instructions are received in time to be

voted will be represented by the

Insurance Companies at the meeting and

voted in the same proportion as shares

for which instructions have been

received in time to be voted. Applicants

further assert that Acquired Fund shares

not attributable to policies or contracts

represented by Insurance Companies,

including shares held by John Hancock

reflecting ‘‘seed money,’’ will be voted

in the same proportion as shares for

which instructions have been received

in time to be voted.

11. The Plan may be terminated at any

time by mutual agreement between the

Trust and John Hancock. Applicants

have agreed to the relief they are

requesting being conditioned on their

obtaining prior approval from the

Commission of any material change in

the Plan.

Applicants’ Legal Analysis

1. Section 17(a) of the 1940 Act

generally prohibits an affiliated person

of a registered investment company, or

an affiliated person of such a person,

acting as principal, from selling any

security to, or purchasing any security

from the company. Section 2(a)(3) of the

1940 Act defines an ‘‘affiliated person’’

of another person to include: (a) Any

person directly or indirectly owning,

controlling, or holding with power to

vote 5% or more of the outstanding

voting securities of the other person; (b)

any person 5% of more of whose

securities are directly or indirectly

owned, controlled, or held with power

to vote by the other person; (c) any

person directly or indirectly controlling,

controlled by, or under common control

with the other person; and (d) if the

other person is an investment company,

any investment adviser of that company.

Applicants state that the Acquired Fund

and the Acquiring Fund may be deemed

affiliated persons and, thus, absent an

exemption, the reorganization may be

prohibited by Section 17(a).

2. Rule 17a–8 under the 1940 Act

exempts from the prohibitions of

Section 17(a) mergers, consolidations, or

purchases or sales of substantially all of

the assets of registered investment

companies that are affiliated persons, or

affiliated persons of an affiliated person,

solely by reason of having a common

investment adviser, common directors,

and/or common officers, provided that

certain conditions set forth in the rules

are satisfied.

3. Applicants believe that rule 17a–8

may be unavailable in connection with

the reorganization because the funds

may be deemed to be affiliated for

reasons other than those set forth in the

rule. In particular, John Hancock may be

an affiliated person of the Acquired

Fund, because Acquired Fund shares

held by John Hancock and reflecting

‘‘seed money’’ that John Hancock has

maintained in the Acquired Fund

constitute more than 5% of the

Acquired Fund’s outstanding shares.

4. Section 17(b) of the 1940 Act

provides that the Commission may

exempt a transaction from the

provisions of Section 17(a) if the

evidence establishes that the terms of

the proposed transaction, including the

consideration to be paid, are reasonable

and fair and do not involve

overreaching on the part of any person

concerned, and that the proposed

transaction is consistent with the policy

of each registered investment company

concerned and with the general

purposes of the 1940 Act.

5. Applicants request an order under

Section 17(b) of the 1940 Act exempting

them from Section 17(a) of the 1940 Act

to the extent necessary to permit

applicants to consummate the

reorganization. Applicants submit that

the reorganization satisfies the

standards of Section 17(b) of the 1940

Act. Applicants assert that the proposed

reorganization will not in any way affect

the price or value of outstanding shares

of the Acquired Fund or the Acquiring

Fund, nor will it in any way affect the

Contract values or interests of Owners.

Applicants assert that John Hancock

will pay all costs and expenses directly

or indirectly associated with the

reorganization. Applicants further assert

that the investment programs and

fundamental investment policies of the

Acquired Fund and the Acquiring Fund

are identical in all material respects.

Finally, Applicants note that investors

in the Acquired Fund will have the

opportunity to approve or disapprove

the reorganization.

6. Applicants believe that such relief

is warranted because of (a) the

advantages of the reorganization to the

Acquired Fund and, to a lesser extent,

the Acquiring Fund and, by extension,

to the shareholders of and Contract

Owners participating in those Funds,

coupled with (b) the absence of any

foreseeable disadvantages that the

reorganization might have for any of

them.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Investment Management, under delegated

authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–31023 Filed 12–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. IC–24777]

Notice of Applications for

Deregistration Under Section 8(f) of the

Investment Company Act of 1940

November 30, 2000.

The following is a notice of

applications for deregistration under

section 8(f) of the Investment Company

Act of 1940 for the month of November

2000. A copy of each application may be

obtained for a fee at the SEC’s Public

Reference Branch, 450 Fifth St., NW.,

Washington, DC 20549–0102 (tel. 202–

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 6, 2000 / Notices 76315

942–8090). An order granting each

application will be issued unless the

SEC orders a hearing. Interested persons

may request a hearing on any

application by writing to the SEC’s

Secretary at the address below and

serving the relevant applicant with a

copy of the request, personally or by

mail. Hearing requests should be

received by the SEC by 5:30 p.m. on

December 27, 2000, and should be

accompanied by proof of service on the

applicant, in the form of an affidavit or,

for lawyers, a certificate of service.

Hearing requests should state the nature

of the writer’s interest, the reason for the

request, and the issues contested.

Persons who wish to be notified of a

hearing may request notification by

writing to the Secretary, SEC, 450 Fifth

Street, NW, Washington, DC 20549–

0609. For Further Information Contact:

Diane L. Titus, at (202) 942–0564, SEC,

Division of Investment Management,

Office of Investment Company

Regulation, 450 Fifth Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20549–0506.

Mackenzie Solutions [File No. 811–

9107]

Summary: Applicant seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On May 5, 2000,

applicant made its final liquidating

distribution to its shareholders based on

net asset value. Expenses of $34,420

incurred in connection with the

liquidation were paid by Ivy

Management, Inc., applicant’s

investment adviser.

Filing Date: The application was filed

on November 7, 2000.

Applicant’s Address: Via Mizner

Financial Plaza, 700 South Federal

Highway—Suite 300, Boca Raton,

Florida 33432.

Anchor Gold and Currency Trust [File

No. 811–4640]; Anchor Resource and

Commodity Trust [File No. 811–8706]

Summary: Each applicant seeks an

order declaring that it has ceased to be

an investment company. On October 30,

2000, each applicant made a final

liquidating distribution to its

shareholders based on net asset value.

Expenses of $86,026 and $30,038,

respectively, were incurred in

connection with the liquidations and

were paid by the applicants.

Filing Date: The applications were

filed on November 6, 2000.

Applicants’ Address: 579 Pleasant

Street, Suite 4, Paxton, Massachusetts

01612.

Insured Tax Free Income Multi Series

I (and Subsequent Multi-Series of the

Trust) [File No. 811–4469]

Summary: Applicant, a unit

investment trust, seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On December 16,

1999, applicant made its final

liquidating distribution to unit holders

based on net asset value. Applicant

incurred no expenses in connection

with the liquidation.

Filing Date: The application was filed

on October 23, 2000.

Applicant’s Address: c/o Van Kampen

Funds Inc., Administrator, 1 Parkview

Plaza, PO Box 5555, Oakbrook Terrace,

Illinois 60181–5555.

A.G. Series Trust [File No. 811–8912]

Summary: Applicant seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On December 23,

1999, applicant distributed all of its

shares at net asset value to its

shareholders in connection with

applicant’s liquidation. Total expenses

of $57,130.00 were incurred in

connection with the liquidation and

were paid by American General Annuity

Insurance Company.

Filing Dates: The application was

filed on August 23, 2000 and amended

on November 15, 2000.

Applicant’s Address: 2929 Allen

Parkway, Houston, Texas 77019.

Norwest Select Funds [File No. 811–

8202]

Summary: Applicant seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On August 5,

1999, the shareholders of the applicant

voted to approve the merger of applicant

with another investment company. The

name of the funds surviving the merger

is Wells Fargo Variable Trust, and its

Investment Company Act file number is

811–9255. Expenses of $109,099 were

incurred in connection with the merger

and were paid by Wells Fargo Bank,

N.A., the administrator of Wells Fargo

Variable Trust.

Filing Date: The application was filed

on June 19, 2000, and amended on July

28, 2000 and October 5, 2000.

Applicant’s Address: Two Portland

Square, Portland, ME 04101.

GT Global Variable Investment Series

[File 811–6672]

Summary: Applicant seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On October 15,

1999, GT Global Variable America

Fund, a series of applicant, transferred

its assets to AIM Variable Insurance

Funds, Inc. On October 18, 1999, GT

Global Money Market Fund, a series of

applicant, transferred its assets to AIM

Variable Insurance Funds, Inc. On

October 22, 1999, GT Global Variable

International Fund, GT Global Variable

Europe Fund, and GT Global Variable

New Pacific Fund, each a series of

applicant, transferred its assets to AIM

Variable Insurance Funds, Inc. The

distributions were based on net asset

value. Legal expenses of $10,117

incurred in connection with the

reorganization were paid by applicant’s

investment adviser, AIM Advisors, Inc.

Accounting and other expenses of

$5,387 were paid by applicant.

Filing Date: The application was filed

on September 26, 2000.

Applicant’s Address: 11 Greenway

Plaza, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77046–

1173.

GT Global Variable Investment Trust

[File 811–7164]

Summary: Applicant seeks an order

declaring that it has ceased to be an

investment company. On October 15,

1999, GT Variable Growth & Income

Fund, GT Global Variable

Telecommunications Fund, GT Global

Variable Strategic Income Fund, GT

Global Variable Global Government

Income Fund, and GT Global Variable

U.S. Government Income Fund, each a

series of applicant, transferred its assets

to AIM Variable Insurance Funds, Inc.

On October 22, 1999, GT Global

Variable Natural Resources Fund, GT

Global Variable Infrastructure Fund, GT

Global Variable Latin America Fund,

and GT Global Variable Emerging

Markets Fund, each a series of

applicant, transferred its assets to AIM

Variable Insurance Funds, Inc. The

distributions were based on net asset

value. Legal expenses of $18,368

incurred in connection with the

reorganization were paid by applicant’s

investment adviser, AIM Advisors, Inc.

Accounting and other expenses of

$7,903 were paid by applicant.

Filing Date: The application was filed

on September 26, 2000.

Applicant’s Address; 11 Greenway

Plaza, Suite 100, Houston, Texas 77046–

1173.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Investment Management, pursuant to

delegated authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–31022 Filed 12–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M