Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2008 / Notices 7767 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, telephone: 

301–415–6792 or e-mail: CEA1@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is withdrawing 

without replacement Regulatory Guide 

(RG) 1.150, ‘‘Ultrasonic Testing of 

Reactor Vessel Welds During Preservice 

and Inservice Examinations,’’ which 

was published in February 1983, 

because it has been superseded by Title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR) section 50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(C)(1), 

‘‘Inservice inspection requirements,’’

incorporation by reference of an 

American Society of Mechanical 

Engineers (ASME) standard. 

Specifically, 10 CFR 

50.55a(g)(6)(ii)(C)(1) requires both 

preservice and inservice inspection 

activities to be performed using 

personnel, equipment, and procedures 

qualified in accordance with the ASME, 

Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, section 

XI, Appendix VIII. 

II. Further Information 

The withdrawal of RG 1.150 does not, 

in and of itself, alter any prior or 

existing licensing commitments based 

on its use. The current version of RG 

1.150 represents a method that is no 

longer acceptable to the staff. RGs may 

be withdrawn when their guidance is 

superseded by congressional action, the 

methods or techniques described in the 

RG no longer describe an acceptable 

approach, or the RG does not provide 

useful information. 

RGs are available for inspection or 

downloading through the NRC’s public 

Web site in the ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’

collection of the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

reading-rm/doc-collections. RGs are also 

available for inspection at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room (PDR), Room 

O–1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 

20852–2738. The PDR’s mailing address 

is U.S. NRC PDR, Washington, DC 

20555–0001. The PDR staff can be 

reached by telephone at 301–415–4737 

or 800–397–4209, by fax at 301–415–

3548, and by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

RGs are not copyrighted and NRC 

approval is not required to reproduce 

them. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day 

of February, 2008. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Andrea D.Valentin, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, 

Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. E8–2424 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Extension of Existing 

Collection; Comment Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: U.S. Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213. 

Extension: 

Rule 17a–13; OMB Control No. 3235–0035; 

SEC File No. 270–27. 

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 

provided for in the following rule: Rule 

17a–13 (17 CFR 240.17a–13) under the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

U.S.C. 78 et seq.). The Commission 

plans to submit a request for approval 

of extension of the existing collection of 

information to the Office of 

Management and Budget. 

Rule 17a–13(b) (17 CFR 17a–13(b)) 

generally requires that at least once each 

calendar quarter, all registered brokers 

and dealers physically examine and 

count all securities held and account for 

all other securities not in their 

possession, but subject to the brokerdealer’s control or direction. Any 

discrepancies between the brokerdealer’s securities count and the firm’s 

records must be noted and, within seven 

days, the unaccounted for difference 

must be recorded in the firm’s records. 

Rule 17a–13(c) (17 CFR 17a–13(c)) 

provides that under specified 

conditions, the securities counts, 

examination, and verification of the 

broker-dealer’s entire list of securities 

may be conducted on a cyclical basis 

rather than on a certain date. Although 

Rule 17a–13 does not require filing a 

report with the Commission, 

discrepancies between a broker-dealer’s 

records and the securities counts may be 

required to be reported, for example, as 

a loss on Form X–17a–5 (17 CFR 

248.617), which must be filed with the 

Commission under Rule 17a–5 (17 CFR 

17a–5). Rule 17a–13 exempts brokerdealers that limit their business to the 

sale and redemption of securities of 

registered investment companies and 

interests or participation in an 

insurance company separate account 

and those who solicit accounts for 

federally insured savings and loan 

associations, provided that such persons 

promptly transmit all funds and 

securities and hold no customer funds 

and securities. The Rule also does not 

apply to certain broker-dealers required 

to register only because they effect 

transactions in securities futures 

products. 

The information obtained from Rule 

17a–13 is used as an inventory control 

device to monitor a broker-dealer’s 

ability to account for all securities held, 

in transfer, in transit, pledged, loaned, 

borrowed, deposited, or otherwise 

subject to the firm’s control or direction. 

Discrepancies between the securities 

counts and the broker-dealer’s records 

alert the Commission and the Self 

Regulatory Organizations (‘‘SROs’’) to 

those firms having problems in their 

back offices. 

Currently, there are approximately 

5,700 broker-dealers registered with the 

Commission. However, given the 

variability in their businesses, it is 

difficult to quantify how many hours 

per year each broker-dealer spends 

complying with the Rule. As noted, the 

Rule requires a respondent to account 

for all securities in its possession. Many 

respondents hold few, if any, securities; 

while others hold large quantities. 

Therefore, the time burden of complying 

with the Rule will depend on 

respondent-specific factors, including 

size, number of customers, and 

proprietary trading activity. The staff 

estimates that the average time spent per 

respondent on the rule is 100 hours per 

year. This estimate takes into account 

the fact that more than half the 5,700 

respondents—according to financial 

reports filed with the Commission—may 

spend little or no time in complying 

with the rule, given that they do not do 

a public securities business or do not 

hold inventories of securities. For these 

reasons, the staff estimates that the total 

compliance burden per year is 570,000 

hours (5,700 respondents × 100 hours/ 

respondent). 

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 has 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 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
7768 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 28 / Monday, February 11, 2008 / Notices 

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. 

Comments should be directed to: 

R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley 

Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, 

Alexandria, Virginia 22312; or 

comments may be sent by e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must 

be submitted within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Dated: February 4, 2008. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–2443 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request; 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Investor 

Education and Advocacy, 

Washington, DC 20549–0213 

Extension: 

Rule 425; OMB Control No. 3235–0521; 

SEC File No. 270–462. 

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’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget the 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

Rule 425 (17 CFR 230.425) under the 

Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et 

seq.) requires the filing of certain 

prospectuses and communications 

under Rule 135 (17 CFR 230.135) and 

Rule 165 (17 CFR 230.165) in 

connection with business combination 

transactions. The purpose of the rule is 

to permit more oral and written 

communications with shareholders 

about tender offers, mergers and other 

business combination transactions on a 

more timely basis, so long as the written 

communications are filed on the date of 

first use. The information provided 

under Rule 425 is made available to the 

public upon request. Also, the 

information provided under Rule 425 is 

mandatory. Approximately 3,700 issuers 

file communications under Rule 425 at 

an estimated .25 hours per response for 

a total of 925 annual burden hours. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

unless it displays a currently valid 

control number. 

Written comments regarding the 

above information should be directed to 

the following persons: (i) Desk Officer 

for the Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Information and 

Regulatory Affairs, Office of 

Management and Budget, Room 10102, 

New Executive Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20503 or send an 

e-mail to 

Alexander_T._Hunt@omb.eop.gov; and 

(ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Office of 

Information Technology, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley 

Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, 

Alexandria, VA 22312; or send e-mail 

to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments 

must be submitted to OMB within 30 

days of this notice. 

Dated: February 4, 2008. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–2444 Filed 2–8–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Investment Company Act Release No. 

28143; 812–13352] 

Bear Stearns Asset Management, Inc., 

et al.; Notice of Application 

February 5, 2008. 

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’). 

ACTION: Notice of an application for an 

order under section 6(c) of the 

Investment Company Act of 1940 

(‘‘Act’’) for an exemption from sections 

2(a)(32), 5(a)(1) and 22(d) of the Act and 

rule 22c–1 under the Act. 

APPLICANTS: Bear Stearns Asset 

Management, Inc. (the ‘‘Advisor’’), 

ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the 

‘‘Distributor’’), and Bear Stearns Active 

ETF Trust (the ‘‘Trust’’). 

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants 

request an order that permits (a) series 

of certain open-end management 

investment companies to issue shares 

(‘‘ETS’’) redeemable in large 

aggregations only (‘‘Creation Unit 

Aggregations’’) and (b) secondary 

market transactions in ETS to occur at 

negotiated market prices. 

FILING DATES: The application was filed 

on December 21, 2006 and amended on 

August 8, 2007, September 14, 2007, 

November 5, 2007, December 10, 2007, 

December 26, 2007, and January 14, 

2008. 

HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An 

order granting the requested relief will 

be issued unless the Commission orders 

a hearing. Interested persons may 

request a hearing by writing to the 

Commission’s Secretary and serving 

applicants with a copy of the request, 

personally or by mail. Hearing requests 

should be received by the Commission 

by 5:30 p.m. on February 26, 2008, and 

should be accompanied by proof of 

service on applicants, 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 

Commission’s Secretary. 

ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 100 F 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549–

1090. Applicants: Advisor and Trust, 

237 Park Avenue, New York, New York 

10017; Distributor, 1290 Broadway, 

Suite 1100, Denver, CO 80203. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura J. Riegel, Senior Counsel, at (202) 

551–6873, or Marilyn Mann, Branch 

Chief, at (202) 551–6821 (Division of 

Investment Management, Office of 

Investment Company Regulation). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

following is a summary of the 

application. The complete application 

may be obtained for a fee at the 

Commission’s Public Reference Desk, 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–0102 (tel. 202–551–5850). 

Applicants’ Representations 

1. The Trust is an open-end 

management investment company 

registered under the Act and formed as 

a Delaware statutory trust. The Trust is 

organized as a series fund with one 

initial series: Bear Stearns Current Yield 

Fund (the ‘‘Current Yield Fund’’). The 

investment objective of the Current 

Yield Fund will be to seek as high a 

level of current income as is consistent 

with the preservation of capital and 

liquidity by investing primarily in shortterm debt obligations, repurchase 

agreements and reverse repurchase 

agreements that meet certain minimum 

ratings requirements (or if unrated, that 

the Advisor determines are of 

comparable quality). The Current Yield 

Fund’s portfolio will have an average 

dollar-weighted maturity of 

approximately 180 days. 

2. The Advisor plans to introduce 

future series of the Trust or of other 

open-end management investment 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES