2023-03154. Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Customer Account Statements

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”) is soliciting comments on the existing collection of information provided for in Rule 607 (17 CFR 2240.15) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (“Exchange Act”). The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for extension and approval.

Rule 607 requires disclosure on each new account and on a yearly basis thereafter, on the annual statement, the firm's policies regarding receipt of payment for order flow from any market makers, exchanges or exchange members to which it routes customers' order in national market system securities for execution; and information regarding the aggregate amount of monetary payments, discounts, rebates or reduction in fees received by the firm over the past year.

The information collected pursuant to Rule 607 is necessary to facilitate the establishment of a national market system for securities. The purpose of the rule is to ensure that customers are adequately apprised of the broker-dealer's order routing practices with respect to the customer's order, in furtherance of the Commission's statutory mandate to protect investors.

The Commission estimates that approximately 3,643 respondents will make the third-party disclosures required in the collection of information requirements to 183,511,801 customer accounts each year. The Commission estimates that the average number of hours necessary for each respondent to comply with Rule 607 per year is 39.714 hours, which results in an average aggregated annual burden of 144,678.102 hours.

Written comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's estimates of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted in writing by April 17, 2023.

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.

Please direct your written comments to: David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or send an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: February 9, 2023.

Sherry R. Haywood,

Assistant Secretary.