03-25317. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549-0004.

Extension:

Rule 27f-1 and Form N-27F-1, SEC File No. 270-487, OMB Control No. 3235-0546.

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”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below.

Rule 27f-1 [17 CFR 270.27f-1] is entitled “Notice of Right of Withdrawal Required To Be Mailed to Periodic Payment Plan Certificate Holders and Exemption from Section 27(f) for Certain Periodic Payment Plan Certificates.” Form N-27F-1 is entitled “Notice to Periodic Payment Plan Certificate Holders of 45 Day Withdrawal Right with Respect to Periodic Payment Plan Certificates.” Form N-27F-1, which is prescribed by rule 27f-1, is used to notify recent purchasers of periodic payment plan certificates of their right under section 27(f) of the Act to return the certificates within a specified period for a full refund. The Form N-27F-1 notice, which is sent directly to holders of periodic payment plan certificates, serves to alert purchasers of periodic payment plans of their rights in connection with their plan certificates.

Commission staff estimates that three issuers of periodic payment plan certificates are affected by rule 27f-1. The frequency with which each of these issuers or their representatives must file Form N-27F-1 notices varies with the number of periodic payment plans sold. The Commission estimates, however, that approximately 5,907 Form N-27F-1 notices are sent out annually. The Commission estimates that all the issuers that send Form N-27F-1 notices use outside contractors to print and distribute the notices, and incur no hourly burden. The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not derived from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of Commission rules and forms.^[1]

Complying with the collection of information requirements of rule 27f-1 is mandatory for custodian banks of periodic payment plans for which the sales load deducted from any payment exceeds 9 percent of the payment.^[2] The information provided pursuant to rule 27f-1 will be provided to third parties and, therefore, will not be kept confidential. The Commission is seeking OMB approval, because 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 control number.

Please direct general comments regarding the above information to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 3208, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; and (ii) Kenneth A. Fogash, Acting Associate Executive Director/CIO, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549-0004. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.

Dated: September 29, 2003.

Jill M. Peterson,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  This estimate is based on informal conversations between the Commission staff and representatives of periodic payment plan issuers.

2.  The rule permits the issuer, the principal underwriter for, or the depositor of, the issuer or a record-keeping agent for the issuer to mail the notice if the custodian bank has delegated the mailing of the notice to any of them or if the issuer has been permitted to operate without a custodian bank by Commission order. See 17 CFR 270.27f-1.