E9-10690. 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 27f-1 and Form N-27F-1, SEC File No. 270-487, OMB Control No. 3235-0546.

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 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(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (“Act”) (15 U.S.C. 80a-27(f)) provides that “[w]ith respect to any periodic payment plan (other than a plan under which the amount of sales load deducted from any payment thereon does not exceed 9 per centum of such payment), the custodian bank for such plan shall mail to each certificate holder, within sixty days after the issuance of the certificate, a statement of charges to be deducted from the projected payments on the certificate and a notice of his right of withdrawal as specified in this section.” ^[1] The certificate holder then has forty-five days from the mailing of the notice to surrender his or her certificate and receive “in payment thereof, in cash, the sum of (1) the value of his account, and (2) an amount, from the underwriter or depositor, equal to the difference between the gross payments made and the net amount invested.”

Section 27(f) authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) to “make rules specifying the method, form, and contents of the notice required by this subsection.” Rule 27f-1 (17 CFR 270.27f-1) under the Act, entitled “Notice of Right of Withdrawal Required to be Mailed to Periodic Payment Plan Certificate Holders and Exemption from Section 27(f) for Certain Periodic Payment Plan Certificates,” provides instructions for the delivery of the notice required by section 27(f).

Rule 27f-1(d) prescribes Form N-27F-1 (17 CFR 274.127f-1), which sets forth the language that custodian banks for periodic payment plans must use in informing certificate holders of their withdrawal right pursuant to section 27(f). The instructions to the form provide that the notice must be on the sender's letterhead. The Commission does not receive a copy of the form N-27F-1 notice.

The Form N-27F-1 notice informs certificate holders of their rights in connection with the certificates they hold. Specifically, it is intended to encourage new purchasers of plan certificates to reassess the costs and benefits of their investment and to provide them with an opportunity to recover their initial investment without penalty. The disclosure assists certificate holders in making careful and fully informed decisions about whether to invest in periodic payment plan certificates.

Complying with the collection of information requirements of rule 27f-1 is mandatory for custodian banks of periodic payment plans for which the sales load deducted from any payment exceeds 9 percent of the payment.^[2] The information provided pursuant to rule 27f-1 will be provided to third parties and, therefore, 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 control number.

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 information collection burden associated with rule 27f-1 and Form N-27F-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 representative study of the cost of the Commission's rules and forms

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: April 30, 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.

2.  The rule also permits the issuer, its principal underwriter, its depositor, or its record-keeping agent to mail the notice if the custodian bank has delegated the mailing of the notice to any of them or if the issuer has been permitted to operate without a custodian bank by Commission order. See 17 CFR 270.27f-1.