2470 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2018 / Notices 

1 15 U.S.C. 7201 et seq. 

2Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). 3 17 CFR 202.190. 

not be released under the Freedom of 

Information Act. 

ADDRESSES: Objections relating to the 

prospective license may be submitted to 

Patent Counsel, Bryan A. Geurts, 

Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 

Greenbelt Road M/S 140.1, Greenbelt 

MD 20771. Phone (301) 286–7351. 

Facsimile (301) 286–9502. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Enidia Santiago-Arce, Innovative 

Partnerships Program Office, Goddard 

Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt 

Road M/S 504, Greenbelt, MD 20771. 

Phone (301) 286–5810. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice of intent to grant a partiallyexclusive term patent license is issued 

in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 209(e) and 

37 CFR 404.7(a)(1)(i). The patent rights 

in these inventions have been assigned 

to the United States of America as 

represented by the Administrator of the 

National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration. The prospective 

partially exclusive license will comply 

with the requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 

and 37 CFR 404.7. 

Information about other NASA 

inventions available for licensing can be 

found online at http://

technology.nasa.gov. 

Mark P. Dvorscak, 

Agency Counsel for Intellectual Property. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00661 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7510–13–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, 

January 18, 2018. 

PLACE: Closed Commission Hearing 

Room 10800. 

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to 

the public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

Commissioners, Counsel to the 

Commissioners, the Secretary to the 

Commission, and recording secretaries 

will attend the closed meeting. Certain 

staff members who have an interest in 

the matters also may be present. 

The General Counsel of the 

Commission, or his designee, has 

certified that, in his opinion, one or 

more of the exemptions set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(3), (5), (6), (7), (8), 9(B) 

and (10) and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), 

(a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9)(ii) and 

(a)(10), permit consideration of the 

scheduled matters at the closed meeting. 

Commissioner Stein, as duty officer, 

voted to consider the items listed for the 

closed meeting in closed session. 

The subject matters of the closed 

meeting will be: 

Institution and settlement of 

injunctive actions; 

Institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings; and 

Other matters relating to enforcement 

proceedings. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting items. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For further information and to ascertain 

what, if any, matters have been added, 

deleted or postponed; please contact 

Brent J. Fields from the Office of the 

Secretary at (202) 551–5400. 

Dated: January 11, 2018. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00739 Filed 1–12–18; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Securities Act of 1933 Release No. 33– 

10453/January 10, 2018; Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 Release No. 34– 

82483/January 10, 2018] 

Order Approving Public Company 

Accounting Oversight Board Budget 

and Annual Accounting Support Fee 

for Calendar Year 2018 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as 

amended (the ‘‘Sarbanes-Oxley Act’’),1

established the Public Company 

Accounting Oversight Board (‘‘PCAOB’’) 

to oversee the audits of companies that 

are subject to the securities laws, and 

related matters, in order to protect the 

interests of investors and further the 

public interest in the preparation of 

informative, accurate and independent 

audit reports. Section 982 of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (the ‘‘Dodd-Frank Act’’) 2

amended the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to 

provide the PCAOB with explicit 

authority to oversee auditors of brokerdealers registered with the Commission. 

The PCAOB is to accomplish these goals 

through registration of public 

accounting firms and standard setting, 

inspection, and disciplinary programs. 

The PCAOB is subject to the 

comprehensive oversight of the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(the ‘‘Commission’’). 

Section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act 

provides that the PCAOB shall establish 

a reasonable annual accounting support 

fee, as may be necessary or appropriate 

to establish and maintain the PCAOB. 

Under Section 109(f) of the SarbanesOxley Act, the aggregate annual 

accounting support fee shall not exceed 

the PCAOB’s aggregate ‘‘recoverable 

budget expenses,’’ which may include 

operating, capital and accrued items. 

The PCAOB’s annual budget and 

accounting support fee are subject to 

approval by the Commission. In 

addition, the PCAOB must allocate the 

annual accounting support fee among 

issuers and among brokers and dealers. 

Section 109(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley 

Act directs the PCAOB to establish a 

budget for each fiscal year in accordance 

with the PCAOB’s internal procedures, 

subject to approval by the Commission. 

Rule 190 of Regulation P governs the 

Commission’s review and approval of 

PCAOB budgets and annual accounting 

support fees.3 This budget rule 

provides, among other things, a 

timetable for the preparation and 

submission of the PCAOB budget and 

for Commission actions related to each 

budget, a description of the information 

that should be included in each budget 

submission, limits on the PCAOB’s 

ability to incur expenses and obligations 

except as provided in the approved 

budget, procedures relating to 

supplemental budget requests, 

requirements for the PCAOB to furnish 

on a quarterly basis certain budgetrelated information, and a list of 

definitions that apply to the rule and to 

general discussions of PCAOB budget 

matters. 

In accordance with the budget rule, in 

March 2017 the PCAOB provided the 

Commission with a narrative 

description of its program issues and 

outlook for the 2018 budget year. In 

response, the Commission provided the 

PCAOB with economic assumptions and 

general budgetary guidance for the 2018 

budget year. The PCAOB subsequently 

delivered a preliminary budget and 

budget justification to the Commission. 

Staff from the Commission’s Office of 

the Chief Accountant and Office of 

Financial Management dedicated a 

substantial amount of time to the review 

and analysis of the PCAOB’s programs, 

projects, and budget estimates; reviewed 

the PCAOB’s estimates of 2017 actual 

spending; and attended several meetings 

with management and staff of the 

PCAOB to further develop their 

understanding of the PCAOB’s budget 

and operations. During the course of 

this review, Commission staff relied 

upon representations and supporting 

documentation from the PCAOB. Based 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 11 / Wednesday, January 17, 2018 / Notices 2471 

4See ‘‘OMB Report to the Congress on the Joint 

Committee Reductions for Fiscal Year 2018’’, 

Appendix page 16 of 16 available at https://

www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/

omb/sequestration_reports/2018_jc_sequestration_

report_may2017_potus.pdf. 

on this review, the Commission issued 

a ‘‘pass back’’ letter to the PCAOB on 

October 25, 2017. On November 16, 

2017, the PCAOB adopted its 2018 

budget during an open meeting, and 

subsequently submitted that budget to 

the Commission for approval. 

After considering the above, the 

Commission did not identify any 

proposed disbursements in the 2018 

budget adopted by the PCAOB that are 

not properly recoverable through the 

annual accounting support fee, and the 

Commission believes that the aggregate 

proposed 2018 annual accounting 

support fee does not exceed the 

PCAOB’s aggregate recoverable budget 

expenses for 2018. 

The Commission also acknowledges 

the PCAOB’s updated strategic plan and 

encourages the PCAOB to continue 

keeping the Commission and its staff 

apprised of significant new 

developments. The Commission looks 

forward to providing its views to the 

PCAOB as future updates are made to 

the plan. In addition, the PCAOB should 

submit its 2017 annual report to the 

Commission by April 2, 2018. 

The Commission directs the Board 

during 2018 to continue to provide 

periodic updates to the Commission 

relating to the monitoring of estimated 

cost savings and efficiencies gained 

through certain initiatives implemented 

in recent years. The Board shall 

continue its review of its compensation 

and travel policies and report to the 

Commission the results of this review. 

In May 2017, the PCAOB formed the 

Office of Economic and Risk Analysis 

(‘‘ERA’’) by integrating the staff of the 

Center for Economic Analysis (‘‘CEA’’) 

that conducted economic analysis and 

research with staff from the Office of 

Research and Analysis (‘‘ORA’’) that 

conducted risk assessment and data 

analysis. The Commission directs the 

PCAOB during 2018 to provide 

quarterly updates to the Commission on 

ERA’s activities and progress towards its 

stated goals, including the work to 

integrate staff from the former CEA and 

ORA. 

The Commission directs the Board 

during 2018 to continue to provide in its 

quarterly reports to the Commission 

detailed information about the state of 

the PCAOB’s information technology 

(‘‘IT’’) program, including planned, 

estimated, and actual costs for IT 

projects, and the level of involvement of 

consultants. These reports also should 

continue to include: (a) A discussion of 

the Board’s assessment of the IT 

program; and (b) the quarterly IT report 

that is prepared by PCAOB staff and 

submitted to the Board. 

The Commission also directs the 

Board during 2018 to continue to 

include in its quarterly reports to the 

Commission information about the 

PCAOB’s inspections program. Such 

information is to include: (a) Statistics 

relative to the numbers and types of 

firms budgeted and expected to be 

inspected in 2018, including by location 

and by year the inspections are required 

to be conducted in accordance with the 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act and PCAOB rules; 

(b) information about the timing of the 

issuance of inspections reports for 

domestic and non-U.S. inspections; and 

(c) updates on the PCAOB’s efforts to 

establish cooperative arrangements with 

respective non-U.S. authorities for 

inspections required in those countries. 

The Commission understands that the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) has determined the 2018 

budget of the PCAOB to be sequestrable 

under the Budget Control Act of 2011.4

For 2017, the PCAOB sequestered $17 

million. That amount will become 

available in 2018. For 2018, the 

sequestration amount will be 6.6% or 

$17.2 million. Accordingly, the PCAOB 

should submit a revised spending plan 

for 2018 reflecting a $0.2 million 

reduction to budgeted expenditures as a 

result of the increase in sequestration 

amount from 2017 to 2018. 

The Commission has determined that 

the PCAOB’s 2018 budget and annual 

accounting support fee are consistent 

with Section 109 of the Sarbanes-Oxley 

Act. Accordingly, 

It is ordered, pursuant to Section 109 

of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that the 

PCAOB budget and annual accounting 

support fee for calendar year 2018 are 

approved. 

By the Commission. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00642 Filed 1–16–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: Notice is hereby given, 

pursuant to the provisions of the 

Government in the Sunshine Act, Public 

Law 94–409, that the Commission will 

co-host the SEC–NYU Dialogue on 

Securities Markets—Shareholder 

Engagement on Friday, January 19, 

2018, beginning at 9:10 a.m. (ET). 

PLACE: The meeting will be held at the 

New York University’s Salomon Center 

for the Study of Financial Institutions, 

44 W. 4th Street, New York, NY 10112. 

STATUS: This meeting will begin at 9:10 

a.m. (ET) and will be open to the public. 

Attendees can pre-register for in-person 

attendance or webcast. The meeting will 

be webcast live by NYU and later 

archived on the Commission’s website 

at www.sec.gov. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The event 

is scheduled to include welcome 

remarks by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, 

concluding remarks by SEC 

Commissioner Kara Stein, and panel 

discussions that Commissioners may 

attend. The panel discussions will 

address, among other matters, the 

increasing ownership of public 

companies by large institutional 

investors, the influence of activist 

investors, the role of proxy advisory 

services, and other changes in the way 

investors and public companies engage 

with each other. 

This Sunshine Act notice is being 

issued because a majority of the 

Commission may attend the meeting. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For further information and to ascertain 

what, if any, matters have been added, 

deleted or postponed; please contact 

Brent J. Fields from the Office of the 

Secretary at (202) 551–5400. 

Dated: January 11, 2018. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–00738 Filed 1–12–18; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–82479; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2018–002] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change To Add a New 

Rule 6200 To Codify Participant Risk 

Settings in the Exchange’s Trading 

System (as Set Forth in a Proposed 

IM–6200–1) and To Authorize the 

Exchange To Share Those Settings 

With the Clearing Member That Clears 

Transactions on Behalf of the 

Participant 

January 10, 2018. 

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 


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