Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 1995 / Notices 65695

applications this policy shift will have

no meaningful effect on bottom-line

cost-benefit results. In addition, given

that this policy will be included in

regulatory analyses for specific

rulemakings, the opportunity to

comment on it also exists within the

context of individual regulatory

initiatives. Finally, these Guidelines are

not regulations and are not legally

binding on anyone and are merely

intended to inform the analyst as to

expected staff practice.

A more complete discussion of the

basis and implications of the new

person-rem conversion factor are

provided in NUREG 1530,

‘‘Reassessment of NRC’s Dollar Per

Person-Rem Conversion Factor Policy’’

(to be published in late 1995). Members

of the public who may wish to comment

on this issue are encouraged to do so,

and, on the basis of these comments, the

NRC holds open the possibility of

revising this policy in the future.

Copies of NUREG/BR–0058, Revision

2, as well as NUREG–1530 may be

purchased from the Superintendent of

Documents, U.S. Government Printing

Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC

20402–9328. Copies are also available

from the National Technical Information

Service, 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, VA 22161. A copy is also

available for inspection and/or copying

for a fee in the NRC Public Document

Room, 2120 L Street, NW. (Lower

Level), Washington, DC 20555–0001.

Mail comments to: Chief, Rules

Review and Directives Branch, Division

of Freedom of Information and

Publication Services, Mail Stop T–6

D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001. Comments may be hand-delivered

to 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,

Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15

p.m. on Federal workdays.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day

of December, 1995.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John C. Hoyle,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 95–30888 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

Determination of Quarterly Rate of

Excise Tax for Railroad Retirement

Supplemental Annuity Program

In accordance with directions in

Section 3221(c) of the Railroad

Retirement Tax Act (26 U.S.C., Section

3221(c)), the Railroad Retirement board

has determined that the excise tax

imposed by such Section 3221(c) on

every employer, with respect to having

individuals in his employ, for each

work-hour for which compensation is

paid by such employer for services

rendered to him during the quarter

beginning January 1, 1996, shall be at

the rate of 34 cents.

In accordance with directions in

Section 15(a) of the Railroad Retirement

Act of 1974, the Railroad Retirement

Board has determined that for the

quarter beginning January 1, 1996, 34.6

percent of the taxes collected under

Sections 3211(b) and 3221(c) of the

Railroad Retirement Tax Act shall be

credited to the Railroad Retirement

Account and 65.4 percent of the taxes

collected under such Sections 3211(b)

and 3221(c) plus 100 percent of the

taxes collected under Section 3221(d) of

the Railroad Retirement Tax Act shall be

credited to the Railroad Retirement

Supplemental Account.

Dated: December 14, 1995.

By Authority of the Board.

Beatrice Ezerski,

Secretary to the Board.

[FR Doc. 95–30895 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

Request for Public Comment

Upon Written Request, Copies Available

From: Securities and Exchange Commission,

Office of Filings and Information Services,

Washington, DC 20549.

Extension:

Rule 31a–2, SEC File No. 270–174, OMB

Control No. 3235–0179;

Rule 7d–1, SEC File No. 270–176, OMB

Control No. 3235–0311;

Form N–14, SEC File No. 270–297, OMB

Control No. 3235–0336.

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 summaries of collections for

public comment.

Rule 31a–2 concerns preservation of

records by registered investment

companies and certain majority-owned

subsidiaries thereof. The Commission

periodically inspects the operations of

all registered investment companies to

ensure their compliance with the

provisions of the Investment Company

Act of 1940 (‘‘the Act’’) and the rules

thereunder. A significant portion of the

time used in these inspections is spent

reviewing the information contained in

the books and records required to be

preserved by Rule 31a–2. Each of the

4,902 respondents incur an average

estimated 15.4 burden hours annually to

comply with this requirement.

Rule 7d–1 specifies conditions under

which a Canadian (or other foreign)

management investment company may

request an order from the Commission

permitting it to register under the Act.

The rule’s information collection

requirements seek to ensure that the

substantive provisions of the Act may be

enforced as a matter of contract right in

the Untied States or Canada by the

company’s shareholders or the

Commission.

The Commission believes that three

Canadian investment companies and

one other foreign investment company

have registered under Rule 7d–1 and are

currently active. Apart from information

collection requirements imposed on all

registered investment companies (which

are reflected in the information

collection burdens applicable to those

requirements), Rule 7d-1 imposes

ongoing burdens to maintain in the

United States records of the company

and related records of its investment

adviser and to update, as necessary, a

list of affiliated persons of the company,

investment adviser, and principal

underwriter. The four companies and

their associated persons spend

approximately 101 hours annually

complying with the requirements of the

rule. This estimate is a revision of the

75 burden hours currently allocated to

Rule 7d–1. The revision reflects the

inclusion of an additional respondent

and the Commission staff’s

administrative experience with the rule.

Canadian and other foreign

investment companies have not sought

to register under the Act pursuant to

Rule 7d–1 in the past three years. If a

company were to file an application

under the rule, the Commission

estimates that the rule would impose

initial information collection burdens of

approximately 90 hours on the company

and its associated persons. Since no

fund has sought to register under the

Act pursuant to Rule 7d–1 in the last

three years, the Commission is not

including those burdens in its

calculation of the annual hours burdens.

After registration, a foreign company

may file a supplemental application

seeking special exemptive relief from

provisions of the Act based on the

company’s particular circumstances.

Because such filings are not mandated

by Rule 7d–1 and are made at a

company’s discretion, no burden hours

are allocated for such applications.

Form N–14 is the form for registration

of securities to be issued by investment

companies registered under the Act in

business combination transactions
65696 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 244 / Wednesday, December 20, 1995 / Notices

1The signatories to the Plan, i.e., the National

Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (‘‘NASD’’),

and the Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Chx’’)

(previously, the Midwest Stock Exchange, Inc.)

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Phlx’’) and the

Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘BSE’’), are the

‘‘Participants.’’ The BSE, however, joined the Plan

as a ‘‘Limited Participant,’’ and reports quotation

information and transaction reports only in Nasdaq/

National Market (previously referred to as ‘‘Nasdaq/

NMS’’) securities listed on the BSE. Originally, the

American Stock Exchange, Inc., was a Participant

to the Plan, but did not trade securities pursuant to

the Plan, and withdrew from participation in the

Plan in August 1994.

2Section 12 of the Act generally requires an

exchange to trade only those securities that the

exchange lists, except that Section 12(f) of the Act

permits unlisted trading privileges (‘‘UTP’’) under

certain circumstances. For example, Section 12(f),

among other things, permits exchanges to trade

certain securities that are trade over-the-counter

(‘‘OTC/UTP’’), but only pursuant to a Commission

order or rule. The present order fulfills this Section

12(f) requirement. for a more complete discussion

of this Section 12(f) requirement, see November

1995 Extension Order, infra, at n. 2.

3Securities Exchange Act No. 36481 (November

13, 1995), 60 FR 58119 (‘‘November 1995 Extension

Order’’).

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 28146

(June 26, 1990), 55 FR 27917 (‘‘1990 Approval

Order’’). For a detailed discussion of the history of

UTP in OTC securities, and the events that led to

the present plan and pilot program, see 1994

Extension Order, infra note 5.

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34371

(July 13, 1994), 59 FR 37103 (‘‘1994 Extension

Order’’). See also Securities Exchange Act Release

No. 35221, (January 11, 1995), 60 FR 3886 (‘‘January

1995 Extension Order’’), Securities Exchange Act

Release No. 36102 (August 14, 1995), 60 FR 43626

(‘‘August 1995 Extension Order’’), Securities

Exchange Act Release No. 36226 (September 13,

1995), 60 FR 49029 (‘‘September 1995 Extension

Order’’), Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36368

(October 13, 1995), 60 FR 54091 (‘‘October 1995

Extension Order’’), and the November 1995

Extension Order, supra note 3.

6 In the November 1995 Extension Order, the

Commission extended these exemptions through

December 12, 1995. Pursuant to a request made by

the NASD, this order further extends the

effectiveness of the relevant exemptions through

December 29, 1995. See letter from Robert E. Aber,

NASD, to Jonathan Katz, Commission, dated

November 9, 1995.

specified in Rule 145(a) and exchange

offers. There are approximately 95

registrants filing annually on Form N–

14. Approximately 58,900 hours are

used to meet the requirements of Form

N–14. This represents 620 hours per

registrant per year.

The estimate of average burden hours

is made solely for the purposes of the

Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not

derived from a comprehensive study or

even a representative survey or study of

the costs of SEC 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 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 respondent,

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.

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: December 13, 1995.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary,

[FR Doc. 95–30857 Filed 12–19–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–36589; File No. S7–24–89]

Joint Industry Plan; Solicitation of

Comments and Order Approving

Amendment No. 6 to Reporting Plan

for Nasdaq/National Market Securities

Traded on an Exchange on an Unlisted

or Listed Basis, Submitted by the

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc., and the Boston, Chicago

and Philadelphia Stock Exchanges

December 13, 1995.

On November 13, 1995, the National

Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.,

and the Boston, Chicago, and

Philadelphia Stock Exchanges

(collectively, ‘‘Participants’’) 1 submitted

to the Commission proposed

Amendment No. 6 to a joint transaction

reporting plan (‘‘Plan’’) for Nasdaq/

National Market securities traded on an

exchange on an unlisted or listed basis.2

Amendment No. 6 would extend the

effectiveness of the Plan through

December 29, 1995. On November 13,

1995, the Commission partially

approved Amendment No. 6 to the Plan

by extending its effectiveness through

December 12, 1995.3 The present order

approves the remainder of the proposal

by extending the effectiveness of the

Plan through December 29, 1995.

I. Background

The Commission originally approved

the Plan on June 26, 1990.4 The Plan

governs the collection, consolidation

and dissemination of quotation and

transaction information for Nasdaq/

National market securities listed on an

exchange or traded on an exchange

pursuant UTP. The Commission has

extended the effectiveness of the Plan

six times since then to allow the

Participants to trade pursuant to the

Plan while they finalize their

negotiations for revenue sharing under

the Plan.5

As originally approved by the

Commission, the Plan required the

Participants to complete their

negotiations regarding revenue sharing

during the one-year pilot period. The

January 1995 Extension Order approved

the effectiveness of the Plan through

August 12, 1995. Since January 1995,

the Commission has expected the

Participants to conclude their financial

negotiations promptly and to submit a

filing to the Commission that reflected

the results of the negotiations.

Moreover, the Commission’s August

1995 Extension Order required the

Participants to submit a filing

concerning revenue sharing on or before

August 31, 1995.

The Commission continues to urge

the Participants to comply with the

Commission’s request for the filing

promptly, and specifically requests that

the Participants submit to the

Commission, on or before December 20,

1995, a proposed revenue sharing

amendment, along with a proposed

amendment to extend the effectiveness

of the Plan through the pending

comment period for the financial

proposal. The Commission currently

believes it is appropriate to extend the

effectiveness of the Plan through

December 29, 1995, so that operation of

the Plan may continue while the

Commission awaits these amendments

and prepares them for publication in the

Federal Register.

II. Extension of Certain Exemptive

Relief

In conjunction with the Plan, on a

temporary basis scheduled to expire on

December 12, 1995, the Commission

granted an exemption from Rule 11Ac1–

2 under the Act regarding the calculated

best bid and offer (‘‘BBO’’), and granted

the BSE an exemption from the

provision of Rule 11Aa3–1 under the

Act that requires transaction reporting

plans to include market identifiers for

transaction reports and last sale data.

This order extends these exemptions

through December 29, 1995. Further,

this extension will remain in effect only

if the Plan continues in effect through

that date pursuant to a Commission

order.6 The Commission continues to

believe that this exemptive relief is

appropriate through December 29, 1995.