82 FR 54422 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 221 (November 17, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54422-54423]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24945]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copy Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 
20549-2736

Extension:
    Form N-CSR, SEC File No. 270-512, OMB Control No. 3235-0570

    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

[[Page 54423]]

summarized below. The Commission plans to submit this existing 
collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget 
(``OMB'') for extension and approval.
    Form N-CSR (17 CFR 249.331 and 274.128) is a combined reporting 
form used by registered management investment companies (``funds'') to 
file certified shareholder reports under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) (``Investment Company Act'') and the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (``Exchange 
Act''). Specifically, Form N-CSR is to be used for reports under 
section 30(b)(2) of the Investment Company Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-29(b)(2)) 
and section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C. 78m(a) and 
78o(d)), filed pursuant to rule 30b2-1(a) under the Investment Company 
Act (17 CFR 270.30b2-1(a)). Reports on Form N-CSR are to be filed with 
the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') no later than 
10 days after the transmission to stockholders of any report that is 
required to be transmitted to stockholders under rule 30e-1 under the 
Investment Company Act (17 CFR 270.30e-1). The information filed with 
the Commission permits the verification of compliance with securities 
law requirements and assures the public availability and dissemination 
of the information.
    The current total annual burden hour inventory for Form N-CSR is 
172,899 hours.\1\ The hour burden estimates for preparing and filing 
reports on Form N-CSR are based on the Commission's experience with the 
contents of the form. The number of burden hours may vary depending on, 
among other things, the complexity of the filing and whether 
preparation of the reports is performed by internal staff or outside 
counsel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ This estimate is based on the following calculations: 
172,899 hours = (11,856 management investment companies x 14.52 hour 
burden per fund per year) + 750 additional hours for closed-end 
funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission's new estimate of burden hours that will be imposed 
by Form N-CSR is as follows:

                  Hour Burden for Reports on Form N-CSR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of funds.............................................  \2\ 11,856
Number of filings per fund per year.........................           2
Hour burden per fund per filing.............................        7.31
Hour burden per fund per year (7.31 hours per filing x 2           14.62
 filings per year)..........................................
Additional aggregate annual burden for closed-end funds.....     \3\ 750
                                                             -----------
  Total annual hour burden for all funds....................         \4\
                                                                 174,085
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In total, the Commission estimates it will take 174,085 burden 
hours per year for all funds to prepare and file reports on Form N-CSR. 
Based on the Commission's estimate of 174,085 burden hours and an 
estimated wage rate of approximately $324 per hour,\5\ the total 
internal annual cost to registrants of the hour burden for complying 
with Form N-CSR requirements is approximately $56 million.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 11,856 
management investment companies = (1,594 exchange-traded funds--
eight organized as unit investment trusts + 750 closed-end funds + 
481 money market funds + 9,039 other mutual funds).
    \3\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 750 
hours = (750 closed-end funds x 1 hour per closed-end fund).
    \4\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 174,085 
hours = 750 hours + (11,856 funds x 14.62 burden hours per fund per 
year).
    \5\ The Commission's estimate concerning the wage rate is based 
on salary information for the securities industry compiled by the 
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The estimated 
wage figure is based on published rates for compliance attorneys and 
senior programmers, modified to account for an 1,800-hour work year 
and inflation; multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, 
employee benefits, and overhead; and adjusted to account for the 
effects of inflation, yielding effective hourly rates of $340 and 
$308, respectively. See Securities Industry and Financial Markets 
Association, Report on Management & Professional Earnings in the 
Securities Industry 2013. We estimate that compliance attorneys and 
senior programmers would divide their time equally, yielding an 
estimated hourly wage rate of $324. ($340 per hour for compliance 
attorneys + $308 per hour for senior programmers) / 2 = $324 per 
hour.
    \6\ 174,085 hours x $324 per hour = $56,403,540 per year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Estimates of average burden hours and costs are made solely for 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and are not derived from a 
comprehensive or even representative survey or study of the costs of 
Commission rules and forms. Compliance with the information collection 
requirements of Form N-CSR is mandatory. Responses to the collection of 
information 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.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of 
the 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.
    Please direct your written comments to Pamela Dyson, Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi 
Pavlik-Simon, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549; or send an email 
to: [email protected].
    Please direct your written comments to Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Remi 
Pavlik-Simon, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549; or send an email 
to: [email protected].

    Dated: November 14, 2017.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-24945 Filed 11-16-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P