E6-14124. 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 17i-6, SEC File No. 270-532, OMB Control No. 3235-0588.

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 ^[1] the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously approved collections of information discussed below. The Code of Federal Regulation citation to this collection of information is the following rule: 17 CFR 240.17i-6.

Section 231 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 ^[2] (the “GLBA”) amended Section 17 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to create a regulatory framework under which a holding company of a broker-dealer (“investment bank holding company” or “IBHC”) may voluntarily be supervised by the Commission as a supervised investment bank holding company (or “SIBHC”).^[3] In 2004, the Commission promulgated rules, including Rule 17i-6, to create a framework for the Commission to supervise SIBHCs.^[4] This framework includes qualification criteria for SIBHCs, as well as recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Among other things, this regulatory framework for SIBHCs is intended to provide a basis for non-U.S. financial regulators to treat the Commission as the principal U.S. consolidated, home-country supervisor for SIBHCs and their affiliated broker-dealers.^[5]

Pursuant to Section 17(i)(3)(A) of the Exchange Act, an SIBHC must make and keep records, furnish copies thereof, and make such reports as the Commission may require by rule.^[6] Rule 17i-6 requires that an SIBHC file with the Commission certain monthly and quarterly reports and an annual audit report. The reports and notices required to be filed pursuant to Rule 17i-6 must be preserved for a period of not less than three years.^[7]

The collections of information required by Rule 17i-6 are necessary to allow the Commission adequately to supervise the activities of these SIBHCs and to effectively determine whether supervision of an IBHC as an SIBHC is necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of section 17 of the Act. Rule 17i-6s also enhances the Commission's supervision of an SIBHCs' subsidiary broker-dealers through collection of additional information and inspections of affiliates of those broker-dealers. Without these reports, the Commission would be unable to adequately supervise an SIBHC, nor would it be able to determine whether continued supervision of an IBHC as an SIBHC were necessary and appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of section 17 of the Act.

We estimate that three IBHCs will file Notices of Intention with the Commission to be supervised by the Commission as SIBHCs. An SIBHC will require about eight hours each month to prepare and file the monthly reports required by this rule (or approximately 96 hours per year).^[8] On average, it will take an SIBHC about 16 hours each quarter (or 64 hours each year) ^[9] to prepare and file the quarterly reports required by this rule. An SIBHC will require about 200 hours to prepare and file the annual audit reports required by this rule. Consequently, the total annual burden of Rule 17i-6 on all SIBHCs is approximately 1,080 hours.^[10]

We believe that an IBHC likely will upgrade its information technology (“IT”) systems in order to more efficiently comply with certain of the SIBHC framework rules (including Rules 17i-4, 17i-5, 17i-6 and 17i-7), and that this would be a one-time cost. Depending on the state of development of the IBHC's IT systems, it would cost an IBHC between $1 million and $10 million to upgrade its IT systems to comply with the SIBHC framework of rules. Thus, on average, it would cost each of the three IBHCs about $5.5 million to upgrade their IT systems, or approximately $16.5 million in total. It is impossible to determine what percentage of the IT systems costs would be attributable to each Rule, so we allocated the total estimated upgrade costs equally (at 25% for each of the above-mentioned Rules), with $4,125,000 attributable to Rule 17i-6.

Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the 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.

Comments should be directed to: R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, Virginia 22312 or send an e-mail to: [e-mail]. Comments must be submitted within 60 days of this notice.

Dated: August 14, 2006.

Nancy M. Morris,

Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

2.  Pub. L. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (1999).

3.  See 15 U.S.C. 78q(i).

4.  See Exchange Act Release No. 49831 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 34472 (Jun. 21, 2004).

5.  

See—H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 106-434, 165 (1999). See also—Exchange Act Release No. 49831, at 6 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 34472, at 34473 (Jun. 21, 2004).

6.  

15 U.S.C. 78q(i)(3)(A).

7.  

17 CFR 240.17i-5(b)(3).

8.  

(8 hours × 12 months in a year) = 96 hours/year.

9.  

(16 hours × 4 quarters in a year) = 64 hours/year.

10.  (96 hours per year to prepare and file monthly reports + 64 hours each year to prepare and file quarterly reports + 200 hours each year to prepare and file annual audit reports) × 3 SIBHCs = 1,080 hours.