2023-12570. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 15b6-1 and Form BDW

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549–2736

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (“PRA”) (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 previously approved collection of information provided for in Rule 15b6–1 (17 CFR 240.15b6–1), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).

Registered broker-dealers use Form BDW (17 CFR 249.501a) to withdraw from registration with the Commission, the self-regulatory organizations, and the states. On average, the Commission estimates that it would take a broker-dealer approximately one hour to complete and file a Form BDW to withdraw from Commission registration as required by Rule 15b6–1. The Commission estimates that approximately 411 broker-dealers withdraw from Commission registration annually ^[1] and, therefore, file a Form BDW via the internet with the Central Registration Depository, a computer system operated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. that maintains information regarding registered broker-dealers and their registered personnel. The 411 broker-dealers that withdraw from registration by filing Form BDW would incur an aggregate annual reporting burden of approximately 411 hours.^[2]

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

The public may view background documentation for this information collection at the following website: www.reginfo.gov. Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent by July 13, 2023 to (i) www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: June 7, 2023.

Sherry R. Haywood,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  This estimate is based on Form BDW data collected over the past three years for fully registered broker-dealers. This estimate is based on the numbers of forms filed; therefore, the number may include multiple forms per broker-dealer if the broker-dealer's initial filing was incomplete. In fiscal year (from 10/1 through 9/30) 2020, 499 broker-dealers withdrew from registration. In fiscal year 2021, 417 broker-dealers withdrew from registration. In fiscal year 2022, 318 broker-dealers withdrew from registration. (499 + 417 + 318)/3 = 411 (rounded down from 411.33).

2.  (411 × 1 hour) = 411 hours.