1054 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 

stocks for or with customers to disclose 

the amount of compensation received by 

the broker-dealer in connection with the 

transaction. The purpose of the rule is 

to increase the level of disclosure to 

investors concerning penny stocks 

generally and specific penny stock 

transactions. 

The Commission estimates that 

approximately 221 broker-dealers will 

spend an average of 87 hours annually 

to comply with this rule. Thus, the total 

compliance burden is approximately 

19,245 burden-hours per year. 

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 

estimates 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 

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: Pamela Dyson, Acting 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: January 2, 2015. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00054 Filed 1–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–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 17a–5(c), SEC File No. 270–199, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0199. 

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 17a–5(c) (17 CFR 

240.17a–5(c)), 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 17a–5(c) generally requires 

broker-dealers who carry customer 

accounts to provide statements of the 

broker-dealer’s financial condition to 

their customers. Paragraph (5) of Rule 

17a–5(c) provides a conditional 

exemption from this requirement. A 

broker-dealer that elects to take 

advantage of the exemption must 

publish its statements on its Web site in 

a prescribed manner, and must maintain 

a toll-free number that customers can 

call to request a copy of the statements. 

The purpose of the Rule is to ensure 

that customers of broker-dealers are 

provided with information concerning 

the financial condition of the firm that 

may be holding the customers’ cash and 

securities. The Commission, when 

adopting the Rule in 1972, stated that 

the goal was to ‘‘directly’’ send a 

customer essential information so that 

the customer could ‘‘judge whether his 

broker or dealer is financially sound.’’ 

The Commission adopted the Rule in 

response to the failure of several brokerdealers holding customer funds and 

securities in the period between 1968 

and 1971. 

The Commission estimates that 

approximately 213 broker-dealer 

respondents carrying approximately 115 

million public customer accounts incur 

an average burden of 142,424 hours per 

year to comply with the Rule. 

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: Pamela Dyson, Acting 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: January 2, 2015. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00057 Filed 1–7–15; 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 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’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) a request for approval of 

extension of the previously approved 

collection of information provided for in 

Rule 9b–1 (17 CFR 240.9b–1), under the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

U.S.C. 78a et seq.). 

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 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 1055 

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. 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

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 compliance 

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). 

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. 

The public may view background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following Web site: 

www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be 

directed to (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 by sending an email to: Shagufta_

Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Pamela 

Dyson, Acting Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

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

DC 20549, or by sending an email to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must 

be submitted to OMB within 30 days of 

this notice. 

Dated: January 2, 2015. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00053 Filed 1–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act, Public Law 94–409, that 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission will hold a Closed Meeting 

on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 2:00 

p.m. 

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 her designee, has 

certified that, in her opinion, one or 

more of the exemptions set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(3), (5), (7), 9(B) and (10) 

and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), (5), (7), 9(ii) 

and (10), permit consideration of the 

scheduled matter at the Closed Meeting. 

Commissioner Gallagher, as duty 

officer, voted to consider the items 

listed for the Closed Meeting in closed 

session, and determined that no earlier 

notice thereof was possible. 

The subject matter of the Closed 

Meeting will be: 

Institution and settlement of 

injunctive actions; 

Institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings; 

Adjudicatory matter; and 

Other matters relating to enforcement 

proceedings. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting items. 

For further information and to 

ascertain what, if any, matters have been 

added, deleted or postponed, please 

contact the Office of the Secretary at 

(202) 551–5400. 

Dated: January 5, 2015. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00161 Filed 1–6–15; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73976; File No. SR– 

NYSEMKT–2014–117] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

MKT LLC; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Extending Its Program 

That Allows Transactions To Take 

Place at a Price That Is Below $1 per 

Option Contract Until January 5, 2016 

January 2, 2015. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3

notice is hereby given that on December 

30, 2014, NYSE MKT LLC (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE MKT’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I, II, and III below, which Items 

have been prepared by the selfregulatory organization. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to extend its 

program that allows transactions to take 

place at a price that is below $1 per 

option contract until January 5, 2016. 

The text of the proposed rule change is 

available on the Exchange’s Web site at 

www.nyse.com, at the principal office of 

the Exchange, and at the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

self-regulatory organization included 

statements concerning the purpose of, 

and basis for, the proposed rule change 

and discussed any comments it received 

on the proposed rule change. The text 

of those statements may be examined at 

the places specified in Item IV below. 

The Exchange has prepared summaries, 

set forth in sections A, B, and C below, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES