Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 153 / Thursday, August 12, 2021 / Notices 44445 

337 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

may create a conflict of interest, divert 

funds from the efficient administration 

of the Exchange, or unduly influence 

listed companies. 

III. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,337 that: (1) 

The proposed rule change (SR– 

NASDAQ–2020–081), as modified by 

Amendment No. 1, be, and hereby is, 

approved, and (2) the proposed rule 

change (SR–NASDAQ–2020–082), as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, be, and 

hereby is, approved. 

By the Commission. 

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17179 Filed 8–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–360, OMB Control No. 

3235–0409] 

Proposed Collection; 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: 

Rules 17Ad–15 

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 

on the existing collection of information 

provided for in Rule 17Ad–15 (17 CFR 

240.17Ad–15) (‘‘Rule 17Ad–15’’) under 

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (‘‘Exchange Act’’). 

The Commission plans to submit this 

existing collection of information to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval. 

Rule 17Ad–15 requires every 

registered transfer agent to establish 

written standards for the acceptance of 

guarantees of securities transfers from 

eligible guarantor institutions. Every 

registered transfer agent is also required 

to establish procedures, including 

written guidelines where appropriate, to 

ensure that the transfer agent uses those 

standards to determine whether to 

accept or reject guarantees from eligible 

guarantor institutions. In implementing 

these requirements, the Commission’s 

purpose is to ensure that registered 

transfer agents treat eligible guarantor 

institutions equitably. 

Additionally, Rule 17Ad–15 requires 

every registered transfer agent to make 

and maintain records in the event the 

transfer agent determines to reject 

signature guarantees from eligible 

guarantor institutions. Registered 

transfer agents’ records must include, 

following the date of rejection, a record 

of the rejected transfer, along with the 

reason for rejection, the identification of 

the guarantor, and an indication 

whether the guarantor failed to meet the 

transfer agent’s guarantee standards. 

Rule 17Ad–15 requires registered 

transfer agents to maintain these records 

for a period of three years. The 

Commission designed these mandatory 

recordkeeping requirements to assist the 

Commission and other regulatory 

agencies with monitoring registered 

transfer agents and ensuring compliance 

with the rule. This rule does not involve 

the collection of confidential 

information. 

The Commission estimates that 

approximately 366 registered transfer 

agents will spend a total of 

approximately 14,640 hours per year 

complying with recordkeeping 

requirements of Rules 17Ad–15 (40 

hours per year per registered transfer 

agent). 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’s 

estimates of the burden of the proposed 

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. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

under the PRA unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Please direct your written comments 

to: (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Cynthia 

Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, 

DC 20549, or send email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: August 6, 2021. 

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17154 Filed 8–11–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–521, OMB Control No. 

3235–0579] 

Proposed Collection; 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: 

Regulation BTR 

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 for extension 

and approval. 

Regulation Blackout Trade Restriction 

(‘‘Regulation BTR’’) (17 CFR 245.100– 

245.104) clarifies the scope and 

application of Section 306(a) of the 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (‘‘Act’’) (15 

U.S.C. 7244(a)). Section 306(a)(6) [15 

U.S.C.7244(a)(6)] of the Act requires an 

issuer to provide timely notice to its 

directors and executive officers and to 

the Commission of the imposition of a 

blackout period that would trigger the 

statutory trading prohibition of Section 

306(a)(1) [15 U.S.C. 7244(a)(1)]. Section 

306(a) of the Act prohibits any director 

or executive officer of an issuer of any 

equity security, directly or indirectly, 

from purchasing, selling or otherwise 

acquiring or transferring any equity 

security of that issuer during any 

blackout period with respect to such 

equity security, if the director or 

executive officer acquired the equity 

security in connection with his or her 

service or employment. Approximately 

1,230 issuers file Regulation BTR 

notices approximately 5 times a year for 

a total of 6,150 responses. We estimate 

that it takes approximately 2 hours to 

prepare the blackout notice for a total 

annual burden of 2,460 hours. The 

issuer prepares 75% of the 2,460 annual 

burden hours for a total reporting 

burden of (1,230 issuers × 2 hours per 

issuer × 0.75) 1,845 hours. In addition, 

we estimate that an issuer distributes a 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1