E5-1586. Proposed Collection; Comment Request

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

Extension:

Rule 17a-10, SEC File No. 270-507, OMB Control No. 3235-0563.

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

Section 17(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “Act”), prohibits affiliated persons of a registered investment company (“fund”) from borrowing money or other property from, or selling or buying securities or other property to or from the fund, or any company that the fund controls. Rule 17a-10 permits (i) a subadviser of a fund to enter into transactions with funds the subadviser does not advise but which are affiliated persons of a fund that it does advise (e.g., other funds in the fund complex), and (ii) a subadviser (and its affiliated persons) to enter into transactions and arrangements with funds the subadviser does advise, but only with respect to discrete portions of the subadvised fund for which the subadviser does not provide investment advice.

To qualify for the exemptions in rule 17a-10, the subadvisory relationship must be the sole reason why section 17(a) prohibits the transaction; and the advisory contracts of the subadviser entering into the transaction, and any subadviser that is advising the purchasing portion of the fund, must prohibit the subadvisers from consulting with each other concerning securities transactions of the fund, and limit their responsibility to providing advice with respect to discrete portions of the fund's portfolio.^[1]

The Commission staff estimates that 3,028 portfolios of approximately 2,126 funds use the services of one or more subadvisers. Based on discussions with industry representatives, the staff estimates that it will require approximately 6 hours to draft and execute revised subadvisory contracts (5 staff attorney hours, 1 supervisory attorney hour), in order for funds and subadvisers to be able to rely on the exemptions in rule 17a-10. The staff assumes that all of these funds amended their advisory contracts following the adoption of rule 17a-10 in 2002 that conditioned certain exemptions upon these contractual alterations.^[2]

Based on an analysis of investment company filings, the staff estimates that approximately 200 new funds are registered annually. Assuming that the number of these funds that will use the services of subadvisers is proportionate to the number of funds that currently use the services of subadvisers, then approximately 46 new funds will enter into subadvisory agreements each year.^[3] The Commission staff further estimates, based on an analysis of investment company filings, that 10 extant funds will employ the services of subadvisers for the first time each year. Thus, the staff estimates that a total of 56 funds, with a total of 78 portfolios,^[4] will enter into subadvisory agreements each year. Assuming that each of these funds enters into a contract that permits it to rely on the exemptions in rule 17a-10, we estimate that the rule's contract modification requirement will result in 117 burden hours annually.^[5]

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 R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549.

Dated: March 29, 2005.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  See 17 CFR 270.17a-10(a)(2).

2.  Rules 12d3-1, 10f-3, 17a-10, and 17e-1 require virtually identical modifications to fund advisory contracts. The Commission staff assumes that funds would rely equally on the exemptions in these rules, and therefore the Commission has apportioned the burden hours associated with the required contract modifications equally among the four rules.

3.  Based on information in Commission filings, we estimate that 23 percent of funds are advised by subadvisers.

4.  Based on existing statistics, we assume that each fund has 1.4 portfolios advised by a subadviser.

5.  This estimate is based on the following calculations: (78 portfolios × 6 hours = 468 burden hours for rules 12d3-1, 10f-3, 17a-10, and 17e-1; 468 total burden hours for all of the rules/four rules = 117 annual burden hours per rule).