[Federal Register: September 11, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 175)]
[Notices]
[Page 53483]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11se06-122]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC
20549.
Extension:
Rule 27e-1 and Form N-27E-1; SEC File No. 270-486; OMB Control
No. 3235-0545.
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 (the ``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (``OMB'') a request for extension of the
previously approved collection of information discussed below.
Section 27(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') (15
U.S.C. 80a-27(e)) provides that a registered investment company issuing
a periodic payment plan certificate, or any depositor or underwriter
for such company, must notify in writing ``each certificate holder who
has missed three payments or more, within thirty days following the
expiration of fifteen months after the issuance of the certificate, or,
if any such holder has missed one payment or more after such period of
fifteen months but prior to the expiration of eighteen months after the
issuance of the certificate, at any time prior to the expiration of
such eighteen month period, of his right to surrender his certificate *
* * and inform the certificate holder of (A) the value of the holder's
account * * *, and (B) the amount to which he is entitled * * *.''
Section 27(e) authorizes the Commission to ``make rules specifying
the method, form, and contents of the notice required by this
subsection.'' Rule 27e-1 (17 CFR 270.27e-1) under the Act, entitled
``Requirements for Notice to Be Mailed to Certain Purchasers of
Periodic Payment Plan Certificates Sold Subject to Section 27(d) of the
Act,'' provides instructions for the delivery of the notice required by
section 27(e).
Rule 27e-1(f) prescribes Form N-27E-1 (17 CFR 274.127e-1), which
sets forth the language the issuing registered investment company or
its depositor or underwriter must use ``to inform certificate holders
of their right to surrender their certificates pursuant to Section
27(d).'' The instructions to the form require that a notice containing
the language on the form be sent to certificate holders on the sender's
letterhead. The issuer is not required to file with the Commission a
copy of the Form N-27E-1 notice.
The Form N-27E-1 notice to certificate holders who have missed
certain payments is intended to encourage certificate holders, in light
of the potential for further missed payments, to weigh the anticipated
costs and benefits associated with continuing to hold their
certificates. The disclosure assists certificate holders in making
careful and fully informed decisions about whether to continue
investing in periodic payment plan certificates.
The frequency with which each of these issuers or their
representatives must file the Form N-27E-1 notice varies with the
number of periodic payment plans sold and the number of certificate
holders who miss payments. The staff spoke with representatives of a
number of firms in the industry that currently have periodic payment
plan accounts. Based upon these conversations, the staff estimates that
3 respondents send out an aggregate of approximately 5054 notices per
year through completely automated processes. The staff further
estimates that all the issuers that send Form N-27E-1 notices use
outside contractors to print and distribute the notice, and incur no
hourly burden. The estimate of annual burden hours is made solely for
the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not derived from a
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of
Commission rules and forms.
Complying with the collection of information requirements of rule
27e-1 is mandatory for issuers of periodic payment plans or their
depositors or underwriters in the event holders of plan certificates
miss certain payments within eighteen months after issuance. The
information provided pursuant to rule 27e-1 will be provided to third
parties and, therefore, will not be kept confidential. The Commission
is seeking OMB approval, because 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.
General comments regarding the above information should be directed
to the following persons: (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 e-mail to:
David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley
Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, Virginia 22312, or by e-
mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to OMB within
30 days after this notice.
Dated: September 1, 2006.
Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-14948 Filed 9-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P