2023-01739. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 201 and Rule 200(g) of Regulation SHO

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 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (“PRA”), 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 201 (17 CFR 242.201) and Rule 200(g) (17 CFR 242.200(g)) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).

Rule 201 is a short sale-related circuit breaker rule that, if triggered, imposes a restriction on the prices at which securities may be sold short. Rule 200(g) provides that a broker-dealer may mark certain qualifying sell orders “short exempt.” The information collected under Rule 201's written policies and procedures requirement applicable to trading centers, the written policies and procedures requirement of the broker-dealer provision of Rule 201(c), the written policies and procedures requirement of the riskless principal provision of Rule 201(d)(6), and the “short exempt” marking requirement of Rule 200(g) enable the Commission and self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”) to examine and monitor for compliance with the requirements of Rule 201 and Rule 200(g).

In addition, the information collected under Rule 201's written policies and procedures requirement applicable to trading centers helps ensure that trading centers do not execute or display any impermissibly priced short sale orders, unless an order is marked “short exempt,” in accordance with the Rule's requirements. Similarly, the information collected under the written policies and procedures requirement of the broker-dealer provision of Rule 201(c) and the riskless principal provision of Rule 201(d)(6) helps to ensure that broker-dealers comply with the requirements of these provisions. The information collected pursuant to the “short exempt” marking requirement of Rule 200(g) also provides an indication to a trading center when it must execute or display a short sale order without regard to whether the short sale order is at a price that is less than or equal to the current national best bid.

It is estimated that SRO and non-SRO respondents registered with the Commission and subject to the collection of information requirements of Rule 201 and Rule 200(g) incur an aggregate annual burden of 1,556,049 hours to comply with the Rules and an aggregate annual external cost of $370,933.

Any records generated in connection with Rule 201's requirements that trading centers and broker-dealers (with respect to the broker-dealer and riskless principal provisions) establish written policies and procedures must be preserved in accordance with, and for the periods specified in, Exchange Act Rules 17a-1 for SRO trading centers and 17a-4(e)(7) for non-SRO trading centers and registered broker-dealers. The amendments to Rule 200(g) and Rule 200(g)(2) do not contain any new record retention requirements. All registered broker-dealers that are subject to the amendments are currently required to retain records in accordance with Rule 17a-4(e)(7) under the Exchange Act.

Compliance with Rule 201 and Rule 200(g) is mandatory. We expect that the information collected pursuant to Rule 201's required policies and procedures for trading centers will be communicated to the members, subscribers, and employees (as applicable) of all trading centers. In addition, the information collected pursuant to Rule 201's required policies and procedures for trading centers will be retained by the trading centers and will be available to the Commission and SRO examiners upon request, but not subject to public availability. The information collected pursuant to Rule 201's broker-dealer provision and the riskless principal exception will be retained by the broker-dealers and will be available to the Commission and SRO examiners upon request, but not subject to public availability. The information collected pursuant to the “short exempt” marking requirements in Rule 200(g) and Rule 200(g)(2) will be submitted to trading centers and will be available to the Commission and SRO examiners upon request. The information collected pursuant to the “short exempt” marking requirement may be publicly available because it may be published, in a form that would not identify individual broker-dealers, by SROs that publish on their internet websites aggregate short selling volume data in each individual equity security for that day and, on a one-month delayed basis, information regarding individual short sale transactions in all exchange-listed equity securities.

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 by March 1, 2023 to (i) < [e-mail] > and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: January 24, 2023.

Sherry R. Haywood,

Assistant Secretary.