2011-13117. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549-0213.

Extension:

Rule 609 and Form SIP; OMB Control No. 3235-0043; SEC File No. 270-23.

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”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) a request for approval of extension of the existing collection of information provided for the following rule: Rule 609 (17 CFR 249.609) (formerly Rule 11Ab2-1) and Form SIP (17 CFR 249.1001).

On September 23, 1975, the Commission adopted Rule 11Ab2-1,^[1] which under Regulation NMS has been redesignated as Rule 609 and Form SIP under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) to establish the procedures by which a Securities Information Processor (“SIP”) files and amends its SIP registration statement.^[2] The information filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 609 and Form SIP is designed to provide the Commission with the information necessary to make the required findings under the Act before granting the SIP's application for registration. In addition, the requirement that a SIP file an amendment to correct any inaccurate information is designed to assure that the Commission has current, accurate information with respect to the SIP. This information is also made available to members of the public.

Only exclusive SIPs are required to register with the Commission. An exclusive SIP is a SIP that engages on an exclusive basis on behalf of any national securities exchange or registered securities association, or any national securities exchange or registered securities association which engages on an exclusive basis on its own behalf, in collecting, processing, or preparing for distribution or publication, any information with respect to (i) Transactions or quotations on, or effected or made by means of, any facility of such exchange, or (ii) quotations distributed or published by means of any electronic quotation system operated by such association. The Federal securities laws require that before the Commission may approve the registration of an exclusive SIP, it must make certain findings. It takes a SIP applicant approximately 400 hours to prepare documents which include sufficient information to enable the Commission to make those findings. Currently, there are only two exclusive SIPs registered with the Commission; The Securities Industry Automation Corporation (“SIAC”) and The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (“Nasdaq”). SIAC and Nasdaq are required to keep the information on file with the Commission current, which entails filing a form SIP annually to update information. Accordingly, the annual reporting and recordkeeping burden for Rule 609 and Form SIP is 400 hours; the burden of information collection is estimated to involve approximately 1 respondent application for registration making 1 response per year. This annual reporting and recordkeeping burden does not include the burden hours or cost of amending a Form SIP because the Commission has already overstated the compliance burdens by assuming that the Commission will receive one initial registration pursuant to Rule 609 on Form SIP a year.

Rule 609 and Form SIP do not impose a retention period for any recordkeeping requirements. Completing and filing Form SIP is mandatory before an entity may become an exclusive SIP. Except in cases where confidential treatment is requested by an applicant and granted by the Commission pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and the rules of the Commission thereunder, information provided in the Form SIP will be routinely available for public inspection. Please note that 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.

Background documentation for this information collection may be viewed at the following link, http://www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be directed to (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by sending an e-mail to: [e-mail]; and (ii) Thomas Bayer, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an e-mail to: [e-mail]. Comments must be submitted within 30 days of this notice.

May 22, 2011.

Cathy H. Ahn,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 11673 (September 23, 1975), 40 FR 45422 (October 2, 1975).

2.  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496 (June 29, 2005).