E8-31358. Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request  

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    Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549-0213.

    Extension:

    Rule 15c2-7; OMB Control No. 3235-0479; SEC File No. 270-420.

    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 (“Commission”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) a request for approval of extension of the existing collection of information provided for in the following rule: Rule 15c2-7 (17 CFR 240.15c2-7).

    Rule 15c2-7 places disclosure requirements on broker-dealers who have correspondent relationships, or agreements identified in the rule, with other broker-dealers. Whenever any such broker-dealer enters a quotation for a security through an inter-dealer quotation system, Rule 15c2-7 requires the broker-dealer to disclose these relationships and agreements in the manner required by the rule. The inter-dealer quotation system must also be able to make these disclosures public in association with the quotation the broker-dealer is making.

    When Rule 15c2-7 was adopted in 1964, the information it requires was necessary for execution of the Commission's mandate under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prevent fraudulent, manipulative and deceptive acts by broker-dealers. In the absence of the information collection required under Rule 15c2-7, investors and broker-dealers would have been unable to accurately determine the market depth of, and demand for, securities in an inter-dealer quotation system.

    There are approximately 5,808 broker-dealers registered with the Commission. Any of these broker-dealers could be potential respondents for Rule 15c2-7, so the Commission is using that number as the number of respondents. Rule 15c2-7 applies only to quotations entered into an inter-dealer quotation Start Printed Page 477system, such as the OTC Bulletin Board (“OTCBB”) or the Pink Sheets, operated by Pink OTC Markets, Inc. According to representatives of both Pink Sheets and the OTCBB, neither entity has recently received, or anticipates receiving any Rule 15c2-7 notices. However, because such notices could be made, the Commission estimates that one filing is made annually pursuant to Rule 15c2-7.

    Based on prior industry reports, the Commission estimates that the average time required to enter a disclosure pursuant to the rule is .75 minutes, or 45 seconds. The Commission sees no reason to change this estimate. We estimate that impacted respondents spend a total of .0125 hours per year to comply with the requirements of Rule 15c2-7 (1 notice (×) 45 seconds/notice). The Commission estimates that a typical employee of a broker-dealer charged to ensure compliance with Commission regulations receives annual compensation of $128,960. This compensation is the equivalent of $62.00 per hour ($128,960 divided by 2,080 payroll hours per year). Thus, the Commission estimates that the annual cost burden of compliance with Rule 15c2-7 is $0.78 ($62.00/hour multiplied by 0.0125 hours).

    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.

    Comments should be directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by sending an e-mail to: Shagufta_Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Charles Boucher, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted within 30 days of this notice.

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    Dated: December 29, 2008.

    Florence E. Harmon,

    Acting Secretary.

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    [FR Doc. E8-31358 Filed 1-5-09; 8:45 am]

    BILLING CODE 8011-01-P

Document Information

Comments Received:
0 Comments
Published:
01/06/2009
Department:
Securities and Exchange Commission
Entry Type:
Notice
Document Number:
E8-31358
Pages:
476-477 (2 pages)
PDF File:
e8-31358.pdf