81 FR 71558 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 200 (October 17, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 200 (Monday, October 17, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71558-71559]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-24977]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,

[[Page 71559]]

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-2736.

Extension:
    Rule 17a-4. SEC File No. 270-198, OMB Control No. 3235-0279.

    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 extension of the previously approved 
collection of information provided for in Rule 17a-4 (17 CFR 240.17a-
4), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).
    Rule 17a-4 requires approximately 4,104 active, registered exchange 
members, brokers and dealers (``broker-dealers'') to preserve for 
prescribed periods of time certain records required to be made by Rule 
17a-3 and other Commission rules, and other kinds of records which 
firms make or receive in the ordinary course of business. Rule 17a-4 
also permits broker-dealers to employ, under certain conditions, 
electronic storage media to maintain these required records. The 
records required to be maintained under Rule 17a-4 are used by 
examiners and other representatives of the Commission to determine 
whether broker-dealers are in compliance with, and to enforce their 
compliance with, the Commission's rules.
    There are approximately 4,104 active, registered broker-dealers. 
The staff estimates that the average amount of time necessary to 
preserve the books and records as required by Rule 17a-4 is 254 hours 
per broker-dealer per year. In addition, the Commission is moving into 
this information collection the annual burden hours for paragraph 
(b)(11) of Rule 17a-4, which requires any broker-dealer that sponsors 
an internal broker-dealer system to maintain certain records relating 
to such system for at least three years. The Commission estimates that 
paragraph (b)(11) of Rule 17a-4 imposes an annual burden of 3 hours per 
year to maintain the requisite records. The Commission estimates that 
there are approximately 150 internal broker-dealer systems, resulting 
in an annual recordkeeping burden of 450 hours. Therefore, the 
Commission estimates that compliance with Rule 17a-4 requires 1,042,866 
hours each year ((4,104 broker-dealers x 254 hours) + (150 broker-
dealers x 3 hours). These burdens are recordkeeping burdens.
    The staff believes that compliance personnel would be charged with 
ensuring compliance with Commission regulation, including Rule 17a-4. 
The staff estimates that the hourly salary of a Compliance Clerk is $65 
per hour.\1\ Based upon these numbers, the total internal cost of 
compliance for 4,104 respondents is the dollar cost of approximately 
$67.8 million (1,042,416 yearly hours x $65). The total burden hour 
decrease of 242,062 is due to a decrease in the number of respondents 
from 5,057 to 4,104.
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    \1\ This figure is based on SIFMA's Office Salaries in the 
Securities Industry 2016, modified by Commission staff to account 
for an 1,800-hour work-year multiplied by 2.93 to account for 
bonuses, firm size, employee benefits, and overhead.
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    Based on conversations with members of the securities industry and 
the Commission's experience in the area, the staff estimates that the 
average broker-dealer spends approximately $5,000 each year to store 
documents required to be retained under Rule 17a-4. Costs include the 
cost of physical space, computer hardware and software, etc., which 
vary widely depending on the size of the broker-dealer and the type of 
storage media employed. The Commission estimates that the annual 
reporting and recordkeeping cost burden is $20,520,000. This cost is 
calculated by the number of active, registered broker-dealers 
multiplied by the reporting and recordkeeping cost for each respondent 
(4,104 active, registered broker-dealers x $5,000).
    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 the 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: 
[email protected]; and (ii) Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi 
Pavlik-Simon, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an 
email to: [email protected]. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 
30 days of this notice.

     Dated: October 11, 2016.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-24977 Filed 10-14-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P