Document ID: SEC-2021-0108-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals
Posted Date: 2021-01-26T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7144-7145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01662]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[OMB Control No. 3235-0441, SEC File No. 270-385]

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 18f-3 [OMB Control No. 3235-0441, SEC File No. 270-385]

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (``Paperwork Reduction Act''), the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (``the Commission'') has submitted 
to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') a request for 
extension of the previously approved collection of information 
discussed below.
    Rule 18f-3 (17 CFR 270.18f-3) under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) exempts from section 18(f)(1) a fund 
that issues multiple classes of shares representing interests in the 
same portfolio of securities (a ``multiple class fund'') if

[[Page 7145]]

the fund satisfies the conditions of the rule. In general, each class 
must differ in its arrangement for shareholder services or distribution 
or both, and must pay the related expenses of that different 
arrangement. The rule includes one requirement for the collection of 
information. A multiple class fund must prepare, and fund directors 
must approve, a written plan setting forth the separate arrangement and 
expense allocation of each class, and any related conversion features 
or exchange privileges (``rule 18f-3 plan''). Approval of the plan must 
occur before the fund issues any shares of multiple classes and 
whenever the fund materially amends the plan. In approving the plan, 
the fund board, including a majority of the independent directors, must 
determine that the plan is in the best interests of each class and the 
fund as a whole.
    The requirement that the fund prepare and directors approve a 
written rule 18f-3 plan is intended to ensure that the fund compiles 
information relevant to the fairness of the separate arrangement and 
expense allocation for each class, and that directors review and 
approve the information. Without a blueprint that highlights material 
differences among classes, directors might not perceive potential 
conflicts of interests when they determine whether the plan is in the 
best interests of each class and the fund. In addition, the plan may be 
useful to Commission staff in reviewing the fund's compliance with the 
rule.
    Based on an analysis of fund filings, the Commission estimates that 
there are approximately 7,293 multiple class funds offered by 990 
registrants. The Commission estimates that each of the 990 registrants 
will make an average of 0.5 responses annually to prepare and approve a 
written 18f-3 plan.\1\ The Commission estimates each response will take 
6 hours, requiring a total of 3 hours per registrant per year.\2\ Thus 
the total annual hour burden associated with these requirements of the 
rule is approximately 2,970 hours.\3\
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    \1\ The Commission estimates that each registrant prepares and 
approves a rule 18f-3 plan every two years when issuing a new fund 
or new class or amending a plan (or that 522.5 of all 1,045 
registrants prepare and approve a plan each year).
    \2\ 0.5 responses per registrant x 6 hours per response = 3 
hours per registrant.
    \3\ 3 hours per registrant per year x 1,045 registrants = 3,135 
hours per year.
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    Estimates of the average burden hours are made solely for the 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and are not derived from a 
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of 
Commission rules and forms. The collection of information under rule 
18f-3 is mandatory. The information provided under rule 18f-3 will not 
be kept confidential. 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 OMB control number.
    The public may view the background documentation for this 
information collection at the following website, 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: 
Lindsay.M.Abate@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Cynthia 
Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or send an email to: 
PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Written comments and recommendations for the 
proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of 
publication of this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find 
this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently under 
30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-01662 Filed 1-25-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P