2020-17259. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Extension:

Rule 17a-5

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (“PRA”), 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 17a-5 (17 CFR 240.17a-5), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).

Rule 17a-5 is the basic financial reporting rule for brokers and dealers.^[1] The rule requires the filing of Form X-17A-5, the Financial and Operational Combined Uniform Single Report (“FOCUS Report”), which was the result of years of study and comments by representatives of the securities industry through advisory committees and through the normal rule proposal methods. The FOCUS Report was designed to eliminate the overlapping regulatory reports required by various self-regulatory organizations and the Commission and to reduce reporting burdens as much as possible. The rule also requires the filing of an annual audited report of financial statements.

The FOCUS Report consists of: (1) Part I, which is a monthly report that must be filed by brokers or dealers that clear transactions or carry customer securities; (2) one of three alternative quarterly reports: Part II, which must be filed by brokers or dealers that clear transactions or carry customer securities; Part IIA, which must be filed by brokers or dealers that do not clear transactions or carry customer securities; and Part IIB, which must be filed by specialized broker-dealers registered with the Commission as OTC derivatives dealers; ^[2] (3) supplemental schedules, which must be filed annually; and (4) a facing page, which must be filed with the annual audited report of financial statements. Under the rule, a broker or dealer that computes certain of its capital charges in accordance with Appendix E to Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1 must file additional monthly, quarterly, and annual reports with the Commission.

The Commission estimates that the total hour burden under Rule 17a-5 is approximately 328,746 hours per year when annualized, and the total cost burden under Rule 17a-5 is approximately $35,287,127 per year.

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 within 30 days of publication of this notice to (i) >[e-mail]< and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: August 3, 2020.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  Rule 17a-5(c) requires a broker or dealer to furnish certain of its financial information to customers and is subject to a separate PRA filing (OMB Control Number 3235-0199).

2.  Part IIB of Form X-17A-5 must be filed by OTC derivatives dealers under Exchange Act Rule 17a-12 and is subject to a separate PRA filing (OMB control number 3235-0498).