E6-18795. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549.

Extension:

Rule 17i-3; SEC File No. 270-529; OMB Control No. 3235-0593.

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 (“Commission”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. The Code of Federal Regulation citation to this collection of information is the following rule:

Section 231 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 ^[1] (the “GLBA”) amended Section 17 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (the “Exchange Act”) to create a regulatory framework under which a holding company of a broker-dealer (“investment bank holding company” or “IBHC”) may voluntarily be supervised by the Commission as a supervised investment bank holding company (or “SIBHC”).^[2] In 2004, the Commission promulgated rules, including Rule 17i-3, (17 CFR 240.17i-3.) to create a framework for the Commission to supervise SIBHCs.^[3] This framework includes qualification criteria for SIBHCs, as well as recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Among other things, this regulatory framework for SIBHCs is intended to provide a basis for non-U.S. financial regulators to treat the Commission as the principal U.S. consolidated home-country supervisor for SIBHCs and their affiliated broker-dealers.^[4]

Rule 17i-3 permits an SIBHC to withdraw from Commission supervision by filing a notice of withdrawal with the Commission. The Rule requires that an SIBHC include in its notice of withdrawal a statement that it is in compliance with Rule 17i-2(c) regarding amendments to its Notice of Intention to help to assure that the Commission has updated information when considering the SIBHC's withdrawal request.

The collection of information required by Rule 17i-3 is necessary to enable the Commission to evaluate whether it is necessary and appropriate in the furtherance of Section 17 of the Exchange Act for the Commission to allow an SIBHC to withdraw from supervision. Without this information, the Commission would be unable to make this evaluation.

We estimate, for Paperwork Reduction Act purposes only, that one SIBHC may wish to withdraw from Commission supervision as an SIBHC over a ten-year period. Each SIBHC that withdraws from Commission supervision as an SIBHC will require approximately 24 hours to draft a withdrawal notice and submit it to the Commission. An SIBHC likely would have an attorney perform this task. Further, an SIBHC likely will have a senior attorney or executive officer review the notice of withdrawal before submitting it to the Commission, which will take approximately eight hours. Thus, we estimate that the annual, aggregate burden of withdrawing from Commission supervision as an SIBHC will be approximately 3.2 hours each year.^[5]

The collection of information is mandatory and the information required to be provided to the Commission pursuant to this Rule is deemed confidential pursuant to section 17(j) of the Exchange Act and Section 552(b)(3)(B) of the Freedom of Information Act,^[6] notwithstanding any other provision of law.

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.

Comments should be directed to: (i) The Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or send an e-mail to [e-mail]; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an e-mail to: [e-mail]. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.

October 23, 2006.

Nancy M. Morris,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Pub. L. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (1999).

2.  See 15 U.S.C. 78q(i).

3.  See Exchange Act Release No. 49831 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 34472 (Jun. 21, 2004).

4.  See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 106-434, 165 (1999). See also Exchange Act Release No. 49831, at 6 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 34472, at 34473 (Jun. 21, 2004).

5.  (1 SIBHC/every 10 years) × (24 hours to draft + 8 hours to review) = 3.2 hours.

6.  5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3)(B).