65434 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 2014 / Notices 

1Notice of the United States Postal Service of 

Filing Request to Add Discover Financial Services 

Negotiated Service Agreement to the MarketDominant Product List, October 27, 2014 (Request). 

2Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3622(c), the Postal Service 

is required, among other things, to provide public 

notice of the rate adjustment and provide an 

opportunity for review by the Commission of at 

least 45 days before the implementation of any 

adjustment in rates under section 3622. 

Accordingly, it initially appears that the 

implementation date may be no earlier than 

December 11, 2014, provided the other conditions 

in Section I.G. of the proposed agreement are 

satisfied. 

[FR Doc. 2014–25530 Filed 11–3–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. MC2015–3 and R2015–2; Order 

No. 2231] 

New Postal Product 

AGENCY: Postal Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Commission is noticing a 

recent Postal Service filing concerning 

an addition of Discover Financial 

Services Agreement to the marketdominant product list. This notice 

informs the public of the filing, invites 

public comment, and takes other 

administrative steps. 

DATES: Comments are due: November 

17, 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments 

electronically via the Commission’s 

Filing Online system at http://

www.prc.gov. Those who cannot submit 

comments electronically should contact 

the person identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section by 

telephone for advice on filing 

alternatives. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David A. Trissell, General Counsel, at 

202–789–6820. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents 

I. Introduction 

II. Notice of Filing 

III. Ordering Paragraphs 

I. Introduction 

On October 27, 2014, the Postal 

Service filed a request pursuant to 39 

U.S.C. 3622 and 3641, as well as 39 CFR 

3010 and 3020, et seq., to add a Discover 

Financial Services (Discover) negotiated 

service agreement to the marketdominant product list.1

Request. In support of its Request, the 

Postal Service filed a copy of the Board 

of Governors’ Resolution No. 14–07, 

authorizing a negotiated service 

agreement with Discover; a copy of the 

contract; proposed descriptive language 

changes to the Mail Classification 

Schedule; a proposed data collection 

plan; a statement of supporting 

justification as required by 39 CFR 

3020.32, which the Postal Service also 

asserts satisfies the requirements of 39 

CFR 3010.42(b)–(e); and a financial 

model. 

The Postal Service believes that the 

Discover negotiated service agreement 

conforms to the policies of the Postal 

Accountability and Enhancement Act, 

and meets the statutory standards 

supporting the desirability of a special 

classification under 39 U.S.C. 

3622(c)(10). Id. at 3. In particular, the 

Postal Service believes the agreement 

has the potential to enhance the Postal 

Service’s long-term financial position, 

and it will not cause unreasonable harm 

to the marketplace. Id. 

Related contract. The Postal Service 

indicates that the agreement is designed 

to increase the total aggregate 

contribution that the Postal Service 

receives from mail eligible under its 

agreement with Discover. Id. at 5. The 

Postal Service states that the 

implementation date of the agreement 

will be December 1, 2014 or on a date 

mutually agreed upon by the Postal 

Service and Discover, and will expire 

three years from the implementation 

date, unless otherwise terminated 

pursuant to the provisions of the 

agreement.2 Id. at 1; Attachment B at 6. 

The Postal Service contends that the 

agreement consists of the following four 

key components: (1) Annual revenue 

growth thresholds; (2) a baseline mail 

volume; (3) tiered rebates based on 

aggregate gross revenue; and (4) a 

nonperformance penalty to be paid if 

the annual revenue growth threshold is 

not met. Id. at 6–10. 

• Discover must meet or exceed 

annual revenue growth thresholds (i.e., 

3–6%) to qualify for specific rebate 

percentages under a tiered structure. 

The baseline revenue amount to 

calculate the annual growth thresholds 

is $304,053,073. 

• Discover must also meet or exceed 

a baseline volume amount annually 

(1,256,212,059 pieces in the first year, 

subsequent contract years’ eligible 

volume depends on volume in prior 

years) in order to qualify for a rebate. 

• The agreement provides for a tiered 

rebate structure for a portion of the 

postage paid for eligible mail if such 

mail (i) meets or exceeds specified 

annual revenue thresholds, and (ii) 

exceeds the aggregate total baseline 

volume for mail eligible under the 

agreement. Id. at 5. The tier 1 and 2 

rebates are 2.25% and 2.5%, 

respectively. 

• If Discover does not meet the 

annual revenue growth thresholds 

provided for in the agreement, Discover 

must pay the Postal Service a 

nonperformance penalty of 10% of the 

difference between the annual revenue 

growth threshold and the annual 

revenue actually generated by Discover 

for mail eligible under the agreement. 

Similarly situated mailers. With 

respect to potential similarly situated 

mailers, the Postal Service states that it 

is ready to negotiate and implement 

functionally equivalent agreements with 

such mailers. Id., Attachment E at 4. It 

believes that in assessing the 

desirability of a similar agreement, the 

defining characteristics of Discover are 

its size, large aggregate Standard Mail 

and First Class postage; its expanding 

Standard Mail advertising volume; and 

its declining First Class Mail billing and 

statement volume. Id. at 13. 

Notice. The Postal Service represents 

that it will inform customers of the new 

classification changes and associated 

price effects through publication in the 

Federal Register. Id. at 2. 

II. Notice of Filing 

The Commission establishes Docket 

Nos. MC2015–3 and R2015–2 for 

consideration of the Request pertaining 

to the proposed new product and the 

related contract, respectively. 

Interested persons may submit 

comments on whether the Postal 

Service’s filing in the captioned dockets 

are consistent with the policies of 39 

U.S.C. 3622 and 3642 as well as 39 CFR 

parts 3010 and 3020. Comments are due 

no later than November 17, 2014. The 

filing can be accessed via the 

Commission’s Web site (http://

www.prc.gov). 

The Commission appoints John P. 

Klingenberg to serve as Public 

Representative in these dockets. 

III. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. The Commission establishes Docket 

Nos. MC2015–3 and R2015–2 for 

consideration of the matters raised in 

each docket. 

2. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, John P. 

Klingenberg is appointed to serve as an 

officer of the Commission (Public 

Representative) to represent the 

interests of the general public in these 

proceedings. 

3. Comments by interested persons in 

these proceedings are due no later than 

November 17, 2014. 

4. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this order in the Federal 

Register. 


rmajette on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 213 / Tuesday, November 4, 2014 / Notices 65435 

1The $380 per hour figure for an Attorney is from 

SIFMA’s Management & Professional Earnings in 

the Securities Industry 2013, modified by 

Commission staff to account for an 1800-hour workyear and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, 

firm size, employee benefits and overhead. 2The $57 per hour figure for a General Clerk is 

from SIFMA’s Office Salaries in the Securities 

Industry 2013, modified by Commission staff to 

account for an 1800-hour work-year and multiplied 

by 2.93 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee 

benefits and overhead. The staff believes that the 

ODD would be mailed or electronically delivered to 

customers by a general clerk of the broker-dealer or 

some other equivalent position. 

1The estimate of 2,500 Funds is based on the 

number of management investment companies 

currently registered with the Commission. We 

estimate, based on data from the Investment 

Company Institute and other sources, that there are 

approximately 5,700 Fund portfolios that invest 

primarily in equity securities, 500 ‘‘hybrid’’ or bond 

Continued 

By the Commission. 

Shoshana M. Grove, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26118 Filed 11–3–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

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: 

Rule 9b–1; SEC File No. 270–429, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0480. 

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 9b–1, Options 

Disclosure Document (17 CFR 240.9b– 

1), under the Securities Exchange Act of 

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

Commission plans to submit this 

existing collection of information to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

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

Rule 9b–1 (17 CFR 240.9b–1) sets 

forth the categories of information 

required to be disclosed in an options 

disclosure document (‘‘ODD’’) and 

requires the options markets to file an 

ODD with the Commission 60 days prior 

to the date it is distributed to investors. 

In addition, Rule 9b–1 provides that the 

ODD must be amended if the 

information in the document becomes 

materially inaccurate or incomplete and 

that amendments must be filed with the 

Commission 30 days prior to the 

distribution to customers. Finally, Rule 

9b–1 requires a broker-dealer to furnish 

to each customer an ODD and any 

amendments, prior to accepting an order 

to purchase or sell an option on behalf 

of that customer. 

There are 12 options markets that 

must comply with Rule 9b–1. These 

respondents work together to prepare a 

single ODD covering options traded on 

each market, as well as amendments to 

the ODD. These respondents file 

approximately 3 amendments per year. 

The staff calculates that the preparation 

and filing of amendments should take 

no more than eight hours per options 

market. Thus, the total time burden for 

options markets per year is 288 hours 

(12 options markets × 8 hours per 

amendment × 3 amendments). The 

estimated cost for an in-house attorney 

is $380 per hour,1 resulting in a total 

internal cost of compliance for these 

respondents of $109,440 per year (288 

hours at $380 per hour). 

In addition, approximately 1,500 

broker-dealers must comply with Rule 

9b–1. Each of these respondents will 

process an average of 3 new customers 

for options each week and, therefore, 

will have to furnish approximately 156 

ODDs per year. The postal mailing or 

electronic delivery of the ODD takes 

respondents no more than 30 seconds to 

complete for an annual time burden for 

each of these respondents of 78 minutes 

or 1.3 hours. Thus, the total time burden 

per year for broker-dealers is 1,950 

hours (1,500 broker-dealers × 1.3 hours). 

The estimated cost for a general clerk of 

a broker-dealer is $57 per hour,2

resulting in a total internal cost of 

compliance for these respondents of 

$111,150 per year (1,950 hours at $57 

per hour). 

The total time burden for all 

respondents under this rule (both 

options markets and broker-dealers) is 

2,238 hours per year (288 + 1,950), and 

the total internal cost of compliance is 

$220,590 ($109,440 + $111,150). 

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: Thomas Bayer, Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o Remi PavlikSimon, 100 F Street NE., Washington, 

DC 20549, or send an email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: October 29, 2014. 

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–26128 Filed 11–3–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street 

NE., Washington, DC 20549–2736. 

Extension: 

Form N–PX; SEC File No. 270–524, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0582. 

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 (the 

‘‘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. 

The title for the collection of 

information is ‘‘Form N–PX (17 CFR 

274.129) under the Investment 

Company Act of 1940, Annual Report of 

Proxy Voting Record.’’ Rule 30b1–4 (17 

CFR 270.30b1–4) under the Investment 

Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 

et seq.) requires every registered 

management investment company, other 

than a small business investment 

company registered on Form N–5 

(‘‘Funds’’), to file Form N–PX not later 

than August 31 of each year. Funds use 

Form N–PX to file annual reports with 

the Commission containing their 

complete proxy voting record for the 

most recent twelve-month period ended 

June 30. 

The Commission estimates that there 

are approximately 2,500 Funds 

registered with the Commission, 

representing approximately 10,000 

Fund portfolios, which are required to 

file Form N–PX.1 The 10,000 portfolios 


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