Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices 66003

1Applicants request that any relief granted

pursuant to the application also apply to any other

entity of which RNYSC is or hereafter becomes an

affiliated person (together with applicants, the

‘‘Covered Persons’’).

2Applicants have agreed to promptly file a copy

of the Information and the Cooperation and Plea

Agreement as an amendment to this Application.

ESTIMATE OF ANNUAL RESPONDENT BURDEN

[The estimated annual respondent burden is as follows]

Forms #(s) Annual responses

Time

(Min)

Burden

(Hrs)

G–88 ........................................................................................................................................................ 3,600 6 360

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

To request more information or to

obtain a copy of the information

collection justification, forms, and/or

supporting material, please call the RRB

Clearance Officer at (312) 751–3363.

Comments regarding the information

collection should be addressed to

Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement

Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago,

Illinois 60611–2092. Written comments

should be received within 60 days of

this notice.

Chuck Mierzwa,

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 01–31427 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. IC–25318; 812–12726]

HSBC Holdings plc, et al.; Notice of

Application

December 17, 2001.

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’).

ACTION: Temporary order and notice of

application for a permanent order under

section 9(c) of the Investment Company

Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’).

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants

have received a temporary order

exempting them and other entities of

which Republic New York Securities

Corporation (‘‘RNYSC’’) is or becomes

an affiliated person from section 9(a) of

the Act, with respect to a cooperation

and plea agreement entered into on

December 17, 2001 between RNYSC and

the U.S. Attorney for the Southern

District of New York, until the

Commission takes final action on the

application for a permanent order.

Applicants also have requested a

permanent order.

Applicants: HSBC Holdings plc

(‘‘HSBC Holdings’’), HSBC Asset

Management (Americas) Inc.

(‘‘HAMU’’), HSBC Asset Management

(Taiwan) Ltd. (‘‘HAMT’’) and

Framlington Overseas Investment

Management Ltd. (‘‘Framlington’’).

Filing Date:The application was filed

on December 17, 2001.

Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An

order granting the application 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 January 11, 2002, 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, Commission, 450

Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC

20549–0609. Applicants: Winthrop N.

Brown, Esq., Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &

McCloy, LLP, 1825 Eye Street, Suite

1100, Washington, DC 20006.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jaea

F. Hahn, Senior Counsel, at (202) 942–

0614, or Mary Kay Frech, Branch Chief,

at (202) 942–0564 (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 Branch,

450 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC

20549–0102 (tel. 202–942–8090).

Applicants’ Representations

1. HSBC Holdings is a U.K.

corporation that, together with its

subsidiaries and affiliates, provides a

wide range of banking and financial

services worldwide. HAMU, a New

York corporation, is registered under the

Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the

‘‘Advisers Act’’) and acts as an

investment adviser and subadviser to

several registered investment companies

(‘‘funds’’). HAMU is wholly owned by

HSBC Bank USA (‘‘HSBC Bank’’), a New

York state-chartered banking

corporation and the principal U.S. bank

subsidiary of HSBC Holdings. HAMT

and Framlington, each indirect

subsidiaries of HSBC Holdings, are

registered under the Advisers Act and

act as investment advisers and

subadvisers to funds.1 An indirect

wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC

Holdings, HSBC USA Inc. (‘‘HSBC

USA’’), is the parent company of

RNYSC. HSBC Holdings acquired

Republic New York Corporation, the

then parent company of RNYSC, on

December 31, 1999.

2. On December 17, 2001, the U.S.

Attorney for the Southern District of

New York filed a two-count information

(the ‘‘Information’’) in the U.S. District

Court for the Southern District of New

York alleging conspiracy in violation of

18 U.S.C. 371 and securities fraud in

violation of 15 U.S.C. 78j(b) and 78ff.

The Information charges RNYSC with

conspiring to defraud certain Japanese

entities (the ‘‘Japanese Entities’’) as a

result of the conduct of certain

employees of RNYSC. The conduct

arises out of the involvement of the

Futures Division of RNYSC with its

customers, which included various

special purpose entities with ‘‘Princeton

Global Management Limited’’ in their

names, Princeton Economics

International (together, ‘‘Princeton’’)

and the latter’s chairman, Martin

Armstrong. Mr. Armstrong sold

approximately $3 billion (face value) of

promissory notes to the Japanese

Entities, the proceeds of which were

deposited in Princeton accounts

maintained at the Futures Division of

RNYSC. Employees of the Futures

Division of RNYSC issued letters

containing inflated balances of the net

asset values of certain of the Princeton

accounts, some of which were provided

by Mr. Armstrong to some of the

Japanese Entities. The conduct at issue

in the Information occurred over a fouryear period beginning in 1995.

3.On December 17, 2001, RNYSC

entered a plea of guilty to the charge in

the Information pursuant to a written

cooperation and plea agreement (the

‘‘Cooperation and Plea Agreement’’).2 In

the Cooperation and Plea Agreement,

RNYSC agreed to compensate certain of

66004 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices

the Japanese Entities by making

restitution payments, and HSBC USA

agreed to compensate the Japanese

entities to the extent that the restitution

amount exceeds the capital of RNYSC.

As a result of the events leading up to

the Information and the Cooperation

and Plea Agreement, the Commodity

Futures Trading Commission is entering

an administrative order and

simultaneously settling an

administrative enforcement action

against RNYSC alleging violations of

sections 4b, 4d(a)(2), and 4(g) of the

Commodity Exchange Act. Also as a

result of the events leading to the

Information and Cooperation and Plea

Agreement, on December 17, 2001, the

Commission entered an administrative

order and simultaneously settled an

administrative enforcement action

against RNYSC alleging violations of

section 17(a) of the Securities Act of

1933, as amended, and section 10(b) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as

amended, and revoking RNYSC’s

registrations as a broker-dealer.

Applicants’ Legal Analysis

1. Section 9(a)(1) of the Act, in

relevant part, prohibits a person from

serving or acting in the capacity of an

investment adviser, principal

underwriter, or depositor for any

registered investment company if the

person has been convicted of any felony

or misdemeanor involving the purchase

or sale of any security or arising out of

the person’s conduct, among other

things, as an underwriter, broker, dealer,

investment adviser, or transfer agent.

Section 9(a)(3) of the Act makes the

prohibition in section 9(a)(1) applicable

to a company any affiliated person of

which has been convicted of a crime

described in section 9(a)(1). The entry of

the Cooperation and Plea Agreement

makes the applicants subject to the

prohibition in section 9(a)(3) of the Act.

Other Covered Persons would be

similarly disqualified pursuant to

section 9(a)(3) of the Act were they to

act in any of the capacities stated in

section 9(a) of the Act with respect to a

fund.

2. Section (c) of the Act provides that

the Commission shall grant an

application for an exemption from the

disqualification provisions of section

9(a) of the Act if it is established that

these provisions, as applied to

applicants, are unduly or

disproportionately severe or that

applicants’ conduct has been such as

not to make it against the public interest

or the protection of investors to grant

the application. Applicants have filed

an application pursuant to section 9(c)

of the Act seeking temporary and

permanent orders exempting them from

the provisions of section 9(a) of the Act.

3. Applicants state that the

prohibitions of section 9(a) as applied to

applicants and other Covered Persons

would be unduly and

disproportionately severe and that the

conduct of applicants has been such as

not to make it against the public interest

or protection of investors to grant the

application. Applicants state that, if the

exemption were not granted, the

prohibition in section 9(a) would have

a severe impact on the businesses of

applicants that involve providing

investment advisory services to funds

even though those businesses were not

involved in the matters underlying the

Cooperation and Plea Agreement.

4. Applicants state that the

prohibitions of section 9(a) of the Act

would be especially unfair as applied to

applicants and other Covered Persons,

because they became subject to the

section 9(a) prohibition solely because

RNYSC became an affiliated person of

applicants after the conduct underlying

the Cooperation and Plea Agreement

occurred.

5. Applicants assert that their conduct

has been such as not to make it against

the public interest or the protection of

investors to grant the exemption from

section 9(a). Applicants state that the

matters forming the basis of the

Cooperation and Plea Agreement are

unrelated to the investment company

business of applicants. The activities of

RNYSC giving rise to the Cooperation

and Plea Agreement do not involve or

relate in any way to investment advisory

services for funds, and applicants have

not been able to identify any fund

clients of applicants or any stockholders

of any investment company client of

applicants as having been affected by

the matters giving rise to the

Cooperation and Plea Agreement.

6. Applicants undertake to provide

the funds that are advised or subadvised by them with all information

concerning the Cooperation and Plea

Agreement and the exemptive

application necessary for those funds to

fulfill their disclosure and other

obligations under the federal securities

laws.

7. Applicants state that the employees

of RNYSC who were identified by HSBC

Holdings and RNYSC as having been

responsible for the matters underlying

the Cooperation and Plea Agreement are

no longer employed by RNYSC or any

Covered Person. Applicants also state

that neither they nor any other Covered

Person has ever previously applied for

an exemption pursuant to section 9(c) of

the Act.

Applicants’ Conditions

Applicants agree that any order

granting the requested relief shall be

subject to the following conditions:

1. Any temporary exemption granted

pursuant to the application shall be

without prejudice to, and shall not limit

the Commission’s rights in any manner

with respect to, any Commission

investigation of, or administrative

proceedings involved or against,

applicants, including without

limitation, the consideration by the

Commission of a permanent exemption

from section 9(a) of the Act requested

pursuant to the application or the

revocation or removal of any temporary

exemptions granted under the Act in

connection with the application.

2. Neither applicants nor any of the

other Covered Persons will employ any

of the former employees of RNYSC who

have previously or who may

subsequently be identified as having

been responsible for the conduct

underlying the Cooperation and Plea

Agreement, in any capacity without first

making further application to the

Commission pursuant to section 9(c).

Temporary Order

The Commission has considered the

matter and finds that applicants have

made the necessary showing to justify

granting of a temporary exemption.

Accordingly,

It Is Hereby Ordered, under section

9(c), that applicants are granted a

temporary exemption from the

provisions of section 9(a), effective

forthwith, solely with respect to the

Cooperation and Pleas Agreement,

subject to the conditions in the

application, until the Commission takes

final action on the application for a

permanent order.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–31482 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 246 / Friday, December 21, 2001 / Notices 66005

permanent order.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–31482 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P

SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

Statement of Organization, Functions

and Delegations of Authority

This statement amends Part S of the

Statement of the Organization,

Functions and Delegations of Authority

which covers the Social Security

Administration (SSA). Notice is given

that Chapter S8 for the Office of the

Inspector General (OIG) is being

amended to reflect the retitling of five

Divisions and the amendment to some

of their functions. The new material and

changes are as follows:

Section S8C.10 The Office of Audit—

(Organization)

Retitle:

E. The Operational Audit Division

(OAD)(S8CE) to the Southern Audit

Division (SAD).

F. The Disability Program Audit

Division (DPAD)(S8CG) to the Northern

Audit Division (NAD).

G. The Program Benefits Audit

Division (PBAD)(S8CH)to the Western

Audit Division (WAD).

H. The Systems Audit Division

(SAD)(S8CK) to the Data Analysis and

Technology Audit Division (DATAD). I. The Financial Management and

Performance Monitoring Audit Division

(FMPMAD)(S8CL) to the Financial

Audit Division (FAD).

Section S8C.20 The Office Audit—

(Functions)

Retitle and Amend in its entirety: E. The Operational Audit Division

(OAD)(S8CE) to the Southern Audit

Division (SAD). Plans, and conducts,

oversees and reports on the results of

audits related to the SSA’s Retirement,

Survivors, and Disability Insurance

Program; and the Supplemental Security

Income Program. Specific audit

responsibilities may include:

Enumeration, Retirement, Survivors and

Disability Insurance Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Earnings

Operations; Supplemental Security

Income Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Field Office

Operations; Hearings and Appeals;

Disability Determination Services;

Representative Payees, Performance

Measures; and various general

management and administrative issues

related to, but not limited to facilities

management, personnel, payroll, and

budgeting.

F. The Disability Program Audit

Division (DPAD)(S8CG) to the Northern

Audit Division (NAD). Plans, conducts,

oversees and reports on the results of

audits related to SSA’s Retirement,

Survivors and Disability Insurance

Program; and the Supplemental Security

Income Program. Specific audit

responsibilities may include:

Enumeration, Retirement, Survivors and

Disability Insurance Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Earnings

Operations; Supplemental Security

Income Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Field Office

Operations; Hearings and Appeals;

Disability Determination Services;

Representative Payees, Performance

Measures; and various general

management and administrative issues

related to, but not limited to, facilities

management, personnel Payroll, and

budgeting. G. The Program Benefits Audit

Division (PBAD)(S8CH) to the Western

Audit Division (WAD). Plans, conducts,

oversees and reports on the results of

audits related to SSA’s Retirement,

Survivors and Disability Insurance

Program; and the Supplemental Security

Income Program. Specific audit

responsibilities may include:

Enumeration, Retirement, Survivors and

Disability Insurance Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Earnings

Operations; Supplemental Security

Income Initial Claims and

Postentitlement Operations; Field Office

Operations; Hearings and Appeals;

Disability Determination Services;

Representative Payees, Performance

Measures; and various general

Management and administrative issues

related to, but not limited to, facilities

management, personnel, payroll, and

budgeting.

Retitle:

H. The Systems Audit Division

(SAD)(S8CK)to the Data Analysis and

Technology Audit Division (DATAD).

Retitle and Add:

I. The Financial Management and

Performance Monitoring Audit Division

(FMPMAD)(S8CL) to the Financial

Audit Division (FAD).

4. The division may also perform

various financial related audits of SSA’s

Retirement, Survivors and Disability

Insurance Program; and the

Supplemental Security Income Program.

Specific audit responsibilities may

include: Enumeration, Retirement,

Survivors and Disability Insurance

Initial Claims and Postentitlement

Operations; Earnings Operations;

Supplemental Security Income Initial

Claims and Postentitlement Operations;

Field Office Operations; Hearings and

Appeals; Disability Determination

Services and Representative Payees.

Dated: December 10, 2001.

James G. Huse,

Inspector General for SSA.

[FR Doc. 01–31455 Filed 12–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4191–02–U

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

[Docket No. 301–120]

Extension of Investigation and

Request for Public Comment: Wheat

Trading Practices of the Canadian

Wheat Board

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: The United States Trade

Representative (Trade Representative)

has decided to extend his investigation

of the wheat trading practices of the

Government of Canada and the

Canadian Wheat Board until January 22,

2002. The Office of the United States

Trade Representative (USTR) invites

public comments on the issues in the

investigation.

DATES: Comments are due on or before

5 pm on Monday, January 14, 2002.

ADDRESS: Comments should be

submitted (i) electronically, to

FR0011@ustr.gov, with Docket 301–120

in the subject line, or (ii) by mail, to

Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant to the

Section 301 Committee, ATTN: Docket

301–120, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 1724 F Street,

NW, Room 217, Washington, DC 20508,

with a confirmation copy sent

electronically or by fax to 202–395–

9458.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sharon Bomer Lauritsen, Director of

Agricultural Affairs, (202) 395–6127, or

William Busis, Associate General

Counsel, (202) 395–3150. For

information concerning procedures for

submitting public comments, please

contact Sybia Harrison, Staff Assistant

to the Section 301 Committee, (202)

395–3419.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On

September 8, 2000, the North Dakota

Wheat Commission filed a petition

pursuant to section 302(a) of the Trade

Act of 1974, as amended (the Trade Act)

(19 U.S.C. 2412(a)), alleging that certain

wheat trading practices of the

Government of Canada and the

Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) are

unreasonable, and that such practices

burden or restrict U.S. commerce. In

response to the petition, the Trade