E9-6964. Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549-0213.

Extension:

Rule 27e-1 and Form N-27E-1, SEC File No. 270-486, OMB Control No. 3235-0545.

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 350l et seq. ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “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 for extension and approval.

Section 27(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“Act”) (15 U.S.C. 80a-27(e)) provides in part that a registered investment company issuing a periodic payment plan certificate,^[1] or any depositor or underwriter for such company (collectively “issuer”), must notify in writing “each certificate holder who has missed three payments or more, within thirty days following the expiration of fifteen months after the issuance of the certificate, or, if any such holder has missed one payment or more after such period of fifteen months but prior to the expiration of eighteen months after the issuance of the certificate, at any time prior to the expiration of such eighteen month period, of his right to surrender his certificate * * * and inform the certificate holder of (A) the value of the holder's account * * *, and (B) the amount to which he is entitled * * * ”.

Section 27(e) authorizes the Commission to “make rules specifying the method, form, and contents of the notice required by this subsection.” Rule 27e-1 (17 CFR 270.27e-1) under the Act, entitled “Requirements for Notice to Be Mailed to Certain Purchasers of Periodic Payment Plan Certificates Sold Subject to Section 27(d) of the Act,” provides instructions for the delivery of the notice required by section 27(e).

Rule 27e-1(f) prescribes Form N-27E-1 (17 CFR 274.127e-1), which sets forth the language the issuing registered investment company or its depositor or underwriter must use “to inform certificate holders of their right to surrender their certificates pursuant to Section 27(d).” The instructions to the form require that a notice containing the language on the form be sent to certificate holders on the sender's letterhead. The issuer is not required to file with the Commission a copy of the Form N-27E-1 notice.

The Form N-27E-1 notice to certificate holders who have missed certain payments is intended to encourage certificate holders, in light of the potential for further missed payments, to weigh the anticipated costs and benefits associated with continuing to hold their certificates. The disclosure assists certificate holders in making careful and fully informed decisions about whether to continue investing in periodic payment plan certificates.

Effective October 27, 2006, the Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act banned the issuance or sale of new periodic payment plans. Accordingly, the staff estimates that there is no longer any information collection burden associated with rule 27e-1 and Form N-27E-1. For administrative purposes, however, we are requesting approval for an information collection burden of one hour per year. This estimate of burden hours is not derived from a comprehensive or necessarily even a representative study of the cost of the Commission's rules and forms.

Complying with the collection of information requirements of rule 27e-1 is mandatory for issuers of periodic payment plans or their depositors or underwriters in the event holders of plan certificates miss certain payments within eighteen months after issuance. The information provided pursuant to rule 27e-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.

Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission'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 Charles Boucher, Director/CIO, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or send an e-mail to: [e-mail].

Dated: March 24, 2009.

Florence E. Harmon,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  As discussed below, the Military Personnel Financial Services Protection Act banned the issuance or sale of new periodic payment plans, effective October 2006.