2020-23748. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Extension:

Rule 17a-11

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 17a-11, Notification Provisions for Brokers and Dealers (17 CFR 240.17a-11), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (“Exchange Act”).

In response to an operational crisis in the securities industry between 1967 and 1970, the Commission adopted Rule 17a-11 under the Exchange Act on July 11, 1971. Rule 17a-11 requires broker-dealers that are experiencing financial or operational difficulties to provide notice to the Commission, the broker-dealer's designated examining authority (“DEA”), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) if the broker-dealer is registered with the CFTC as a futures commission merchant. Rule 17a-11 is an integral part of the Commission's financial responsibility program which enables the Commission, a broker-dealer's DEA, and the CFTC to increase surveillance of a broker-dealer experiencing difficulties and to obtain any additional information necessary to gauge the broker-dealer's financial or operational condition.

Rule 17a-11 also requires over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives dealers and broker-dealers that are permitted to compute net capital pursuant to Appendix E to Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1 to notify the Commission when their tentative net capital drops below certain levels.

To ensure the provision of these types of notices to the Commission, Rule 17a-11 requires every national securities exchange or national securities association to notify the Commission when it learns that a member broker-dealer has failed to send a notice or transmit a report required under the Rule.

Compliance with the Rule is mandatory. The Commission will generally not publish or make available to any person notices or reports received pursuant to Rule 17a-11. The Commission believes that information obtained under Rule 17a-11 relates to a condition report prepared for the use of the Commission, other federal governmental authorities, and securities industry self-regulatory organizations responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.

The Commission expects to receive 343 notices from broker-dealers whose capital declines below certain specified levels or who are otherwise experiencing financial or operational problems and eleven notices each year from national securities exchange or national securities association notifying it that a member broker-dealer has failed to send the Commission a notice or transmit a report required under the Rule. The Commission expects that it will take approximately one hour to prepare and transmit each notice. Therefore, the Commission estimates the total annual reporting burden arising from this section of the rule will be approximately 354 hours.^[1]

Rule 17a-11 also requires broker-dealers engaged in securities lending or repurchase activities to either: (1) File a notice with the Commission and their DEA whenever the total money payable against all securities loaned, subject to a reverse repurchase agreement or the contract value of all securities borrowed or subject to a repurchase agreement, exceeds 2,500% of tentative net capital; or, alternatively, (2) report monthly their securities lending and repurchase activities to their DEA in a form acceptable to their DEA.

The Commission estimates that, annually, six broker-dealers will submit the monthly stock loan/borrow report. The Commission estimates each firm will spend, on average, approximately one hour per month (or twelve hours per year) of employee resources to prepare and send the report or to prepare the information for the FOCUS report (as required by the firm's DEA, if applicable). Therefore, the Commission estimates the total annual reporting burden arising from this section of the rule will be approximately 72 hours.^[2]

Therefore, the total annual reporting burden associated with Rule 17a-11 is approximately 426 hours.^[3]

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

Dated: October 22, 2020.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  343 hours + 11 hours = 354 hours.

2.  6 broker-dealers × 12 hours per year = 72 hours.

3.  343 hours + 11 hours + 72 hours = 426 hours.