26222 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices

1Form N–23c–3 requires the fund to state its

registration number, its full name and address, the

date of the accompanying shareholder notification,

and the type of offer being made (periodic,

discretionary, or both).

2Rule 24b–3 under the Investment Company Act

[17 CFR 270.24b–3], however, would generally

exempt the fund from that requirement when the

materials are filed instead with the National

Association of Securities Dealers (‘‘NASD’’), as

nearly always occurs under NASD procedures,

which apply to the underwriter of every fund.

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

Proposed Collection; Comment

Request

Upon written request, copies available

from: Securities and Exchange

Commission, Office of Filings and

Information Services, Washington, DC

20549.

Extension:

Rule 15a–4, SEC File No. 270–7, OMB

Control No. 3235–0010.

Rule 17a–1, SEC File No. 270–244, OMB

Control No. 3235–0208.

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 publishing the

following summary of collections for

public comment.

Rule 15a–4 (17 C.F.R. § 240.15a–4)

under the Securities Exchange Act of

1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) permits a

natural person who is a member of a

securities exchange and who terminates

its association with a registered brokerdealer to continue to do business on the

exchange while the Commission

reviews his application for registration

as a broker-dealer, if the exchange files

a statement indicating that there does

not appear to be any ground for

disapproving the application. The total

annual burden is 240 hours, based on

approximately 30 submissions, each

requiring 8 hours to complete.

Rule 17a–1 (17 C.F.R. § 240.17a–1)

under the Securities Exchange Act of

1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) requires that

all national securities exchanges,

national securities associations,

registered clearing agencies, and the

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board

keep on file for a period of five years,

two years in an accessible place, all

documents which it makes or receives

respecting its self-regulatory activities,

and that such documents be available

for examination by the Commission.

The average number of hours necessary

for compliance with the requirements of

Rule 17a–1 is 50 hours per year. There

are 26 entities required to comply with

the rule: 8 national securities exchanges,

1 national securities association, 16

registered clearing agencies, and the

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The total number of hours required for

all respondents to comply with the rule

is thus 1,300 hours annually.

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 shall have practical utility;

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate

of the burden of the proposed collection

of information; (c) ways to enhance the

quality, utility, and clarity of the

information to be 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 on or before July 13, 1998.

Direct your written comments to

Michael E. Bartell, Associate Executive

Director, Office of Information

Technology, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 5th Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20549.

Dated: May 5, 1998.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12553 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

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, 450 5th Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.

Extension:

Rule 23c–3 and Form N–23c–3, SEC File

No. 270–373, OMB Control No. 3235–

0422

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities

and Exchange Commission (the

‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the

Office of Management and Budget

(‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension and

approval of the collections of

information discussed below.

Rule 23c–3 under the Investment

Company Act of 1940 [17 CFR 270.23c–

3] permits certain closed-end

investment companies (‘‘Closed-end

funds’’ or ‘‘funds’’) periodically to offer

to repurchase from shareholders a

limited number of shares at net asset

value. The rule includes several

reporting and recordkeeping

requirements. The fund must send

shareholders a notification that contains

specified information each time the

fund makes a repurchase offer (on a

quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis,

or for certain funds, on a discretionary

basis not more often than every two

years). The fund also must file copies of

the shareholder notification with the

Commission (electronically through the

Commission’s Electronic Data

Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval

System (‘‘EDGAR’’) or by sending three

paper copies) attached to Form N–23c–

3 [17 CFR 274.221], a cover sheet that

provides limited information about the

fund and the type of offer the fund is

making.1 The fund must describe in its

annual report to shareholders the fund’s

policy concerning repurchase offers and

the results of any repurchase offers

made during the reporting period. The

fund’s board of directors must adopt

written procedures designed to ensure

that the fund’s investment portfolio is

sufficiently liquid to meet its repurchase

obligations and other obligations under

the rule. The board periodically must

review the composition of the fund’s

portfolio and change the liquidity

procedures as necessary. The fund also

must file copies of advertisements and

other sales literature with the

Commission as if it were an open-end

investment company subject to section

24 of the Investment Company Act [15

U.S.C. 80a–24] and the rules that

implement section 24.2

The requirement that the fund send a

notification to shareholders of each offer

is intended to ensure that a fund

provides material information to

shareholders about the terms of each

offer, which may differ from previous

offers on such matters as the maximum

amount of shares to be repurchased (the

maximum repurchase amount may

range from 5% to 25% of outstanding

shares). The requirement that copies be

sent to the Commission is intended to

enable the Commission to monitor the

fund’s compliance with the notification

requirement. The requirement that the

shareholder notification be attached to

Form N–23c–3 is intended to ensure

that the fund provides basic information

necessary for the Commission to process

the notification and to monitor the

fund’s use of repurchase offers. The

requirement that the fund describe its

current policy on repurchase offers and

the results of recent offers in the annual

shareholder report is intended to

provide shareholders current

information about the fund’s repurchase

policies and its recent experience. The

requirement that the board approve and