2021-28434. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 304 of Regulation ATS and Form ATS

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 304 of Regulation ATS (17 CFR 242.304) and Form ATS-N under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq. ) (“Exchange Act”).

Regulation ATS provides a regulatory structure for alternative trading systems. Rule 304 of Regulation ATS provides conditions for NMS Stock ATSs seeking to rely on the exemption from the definition of “exchange” provided by Rule 3a1-1(a) of the Exchange Act, including to file a Form ATS-N, and for that Form ATS-N to become effective. Form ATS-N requires NMS Stock ATSs to provide information about their manner of operations, the broker-dealer operator, and the ATS-related activities of the broker-dealer operator and its affiliates to comply with the conditions provided under Rule 304. Form ATS-N promotes more efficient and effective market operations by providing more transparency to market participants about the operations of NMS Stock ATSs and the potential conflicts of interest of the controlling broker-dealer operator and its affiliates, and helps brokers meet their best execution obligations to their customers. Operational transparency rules, including Form ATS-N, are designed to increase competition among trading centers in regard to order routing and execution quality.

The Commission staff estimates that entities subject to the requirements of Rule 304 and Form ATS-N will spend a total of approximately 2,042 hours a year to comply with the Rule.

Regulation ATS requires ATSs to preserve any records, for at least three years, made in the process of complying with the systems capacity, integrity and security requirements.

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) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John R. Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: December 28, 2021.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,

Assistant Secretary.