2010-9721. Submission for OMB Review: Comment Request

April 22, 2010.

The Department of Labor (DOL) hereby announces the submission of the following public information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35). A copy of this ICR, with applicable supporting documentation; including among other things a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained from the RegInfo.gov Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain or by contacting Darrin King on 202-693-4129 (this is not a toll-free number)/e-mail: [e-mail].

Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for the Department of Labor—Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503, Telephone: [phone]/Fax: [phone] (these are not toll-free numbers), E-mail: [e-mail] within 30 days from the date of this publication in the Federal Register. In order to ensure the appropriate consideration, comments should reference the OMB Control Number (see below).

The OMB is particularly interested in comments which:

• Evaluate 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;
• Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
• Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
• Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Agency: Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Type of Review: Extension without change of a currently approved collection.

Title of Collection: Final Rule on Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities.

OMB Control Number: 1210-0130.

Affected Public: Private sector.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 274.

Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 2,859.

Total Estimated Annual Costs Burden (excludes hourly wage costs): $12,309.

Description: The Regulation on Statutory Exemption for Cross-Trading of Securities (29 CFR 2550.408b-19) implements the content requirements for the written cross-trading policies and procedures required under section 408(b)(19)(H) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as added by section 611(g) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Public Law 109-280 (PPA). Section 611(g)(1) of the PPA created a statutory exemption, added to section 408(b) of ERISA as subsection 408(b)(19), that exempts from the prohibitions of sections 406(a)(1)(A) and 406(b)(2) of ERISA those cross-trading transactions involving the purchase and sale of a security between an account holding assets of a pension plan and any other account managed by the same investment manager, provided that certain conditions are satisfied.

The information collection provisions of the Department's final cross-trading policies and procedure regulation (29 CFR 2550.408b-19) carry out the Congressional directive to specify the contents of the policies and procedures required under the statutory exemption. The Department believes the collections are necessary to safeguard plan assets by requiring that investment managers relying on the statutory exemption effect cross-trades in accordance with policies and procedures that are fair and equitable to all accounts participating in the cross-trading program. The information collection provisions of the regulation, along with other requirements of the statutory exemption, are also intended to ensure that plan fiduciaries have adequate information to make an informed decision regarding the plan's initial and continued participation in the investment manager's cross-trading program.

For additional information, see related notice published in the Federal Register on December 31, 2009 (Vol. 74, page 69365).

Darrin A. King,

Departmental Clearance Officer.