Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension Rule 17Ad-15

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

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 17Ad-15 (17 CFR 240.17Ad-15) (“Rule 17Ad-15”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (“Exchange Act”).

Rule 17Ad-15 requires every registered transfer agent to establish written standards for the acceptance of guarantees of securities transfers from eligible guarantor institutions. Every registered transfer agent is also required to establish procedures, including written guidelines where appropriate, to make certain that the transfer agent uses those standards to determine whether to accept or reject guarantees from eligible guarantor institutions. In implementing these requirements, the Commission aims to ensure that registered transfer agents treat eligible guarantor institutions equitably.

Additionally, Rule 17Ad-15 requires every registered transfer agent to make and maintain records in the event the transfer agent determines to reject signature guarantees from eligible guarantor institutions. Registered transfer agents' records must include, following the date of rejection, a record of the rejected transfer, along with the reason for rejection, the identification of the guarantor, and an indication whether the guarantor failed to meet the transfer agent's guarantee standards. Rule 17Ad-15 requires registered transfer agents to maintain these records for a period of three years. The Commission designed these mandatory recordkeeping requirements to assist the Commission and other regulatory agencies with monitoring registered transfer agents and ensuring compliance with the rule. This rule does not involve the collection of confidential information.

The Commission estimates that approximately 315 registered transfer agents will spend a total of approximately 12,600 burden hours per year complying with recordkeeping requirements of Rules 17Ad-15 (based on approximately 40 burden hours per year per registered transfer agent). The Commission also estimates the aggregate annual internal cost of compliance for the approximately 315 registered transfer agents is approximately $4,019,400 (based on 40 hours annual burden × $319 hourly wage × 315 respondents). This reflects a decline in aggregate annual internal cost of compliance of $650,760 due to the decrease in the number of registered transfer agents from 366 to 315.

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 website: www.reginfo.gov. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice to: (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and (ii) Austin Gerig, Director/Chief Data Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Oluwaseun Ajayi, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.

[FR Doc. 2024-21685 Filed 9-20-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P