2020-04348. Proposed Collection; 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:

Form N-8B-4.

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”) is soliciting comments on the collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for extension and approval.

Form N-8B-4 (17 CFR 274.14) is the form used by face-amount certificate companies to comply with the filing and disclosure requirements imposed by Section 8(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-8(b)). Among other items, Form N-8B-4 requires disclosure of the following information about the face-amount certificate company: Date and form of organization; controlling persons; current business and contemplated changes to the company's business; investment, borrowing, and lending policies, as well as other fundamental policies; securities issued by the company; investment adviser; depositaries; management personnel; compensation paid to directors, officers, and certain employees; and financial statements. The Commission uses the information provided in the collection of information to determine compliance with Section 8(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Form N-8B-4 and the burden of compliance have not changed since the last approval. Each registrant files Form N-8B-4 for its initial filing and does not file post-effective amendments to Form N-8B-4.^[1] Commission staff estimates that no respondents will file Form N-8B-4 each year. There is currently only one existing face-amount certificate company, and no face-amount certificate companies have filed a Form N-8B-4 in many years. No new face-amount certificate companies have been established since the last OMB information collection approval for this form, which occurred in 2017. Accordingly, the staff estimates that, each year, no face-amount certificate companies will file Form N-8B-4, and that the total burden for the information collection is zero hours. Although Commission staff estimates that there is no hour burden associated with Form N-8B-4, the staff is requesting a burden of one hour for administrative purposes. Estimates of the burden hours are made solely for the purposes of the PRA and are not derived from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of SEC rules and forms.

The information provided on Form N-8B-4 is mandatory. The information provided on Form N-8B-4 will not be kept confidential. 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 OMB control number.

Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 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 within 60 days of this publication.

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

Dated: February 27, 2020.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Pursuant to Section 30(b)(1) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-29), each respondent keeps its registration statement current through the filing of periodic reports as required by Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) and the rules thereunder. Post-effective amendments are filed with the Commission on the face-amount certificate company's Form S-1. Hence, respondents only file Form N-8B-4 for their initial registration statement and not for post-effective amendments.