2022-12497. Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 17a-25

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 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et. seq. ) (“PRA”), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) is soliciting comments on the existing collection of information provided for in Rule 17a-25 (17 CFR 204.17a-25) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et. seq. ).

Paragraph (a)(1) of Rule 17a-25 requires registered broker-dealers to electronically submit securities transaction information, including identifiers for prime brokerage arrangements, average price accounts, and depository institutions, in a standardized format when requested by the Commission staff. In addition, Paragraph (c) of Rule 17a-25 requires broker-dealers to submit, and keep current, contact person information for electronic blue sheets (“EBS”) requests. The Commission uses the information for enforcement inquiries or investigations and trading reconstructions, as well as for inspections and examinations.

The Commission estimates that it sends approximately 13,558 electronic blue sheet requests per year to clearing broker-dealers that in turn submit an average 223,057 responses.^[1] It is estimated that each broker-dealer that responds electronically will take 8 minutes, and each broker-dealer that responds manually will take 1 1/2 hours to prepare and submit the securities trading data requested by the Commission. The annual aggregate hour burden for electronic and manual response firms is estimated to be 29,924 (223,057 × 8 ÷ 60 = 29,741 hours) + (122 × 1.5 = 183 hours), respectively.^[2]

Written comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 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 by August 9, 2022.

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.

Please direct your written comments to: David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Office, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or send an email to: [e-mail].

Dated: June 6, 2022.

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,

Assistant Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  A single EBS request has a unique number assigned to each request ( e.g., ”0900001”). However, the number of broker-dealer responses generated from one EBS request can range from one to several thousand. EBS requests are sent directly to clearing firms, as the clearing firm is the repository for trading data for securities transactions information provided by the clearing firm and the correspondent firms. Clearing brokers respond for themselves and other firms they clear for. There were 446,113 responses during the 24-month period, for an average of 223,057 annual responses.

2.  Few respondents submit manual EBS responses. The small percentage of respondents that submit manual responses do so by hand, via email, spreadsheet, disk, or other electronic media. Thus, the number of manual submissions (approximately 122 per year) has minimal effect on the total annual burden hours.