Investor Form Suport Stmt 3235- 0547 v2

SUPPORTING STATEMENT
FOR THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION FOR A CURRENT
INFORMATION COLLECTION
“INVESTOR FORM”

A.

Justification
1. Information Collection Necessity

In both 2008 and 2009, the SEC received over a million contacts from investors who had
complaints or questions on a wide range of investment-related issues. The majority of these
contacts previously came to the SEC via our enforcement@sec.gov email box, and the
help@sec.gov email box. The majority of these contacts were forwards of spam, or other
contacts that did not require a substantive response.
In addition to the emails, the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy received
around 20,000 substantive contacts through its three investor complaint and question web forms:
the Investor Complaint Form, the Financial Privacy Notice Complaint Form, and the Questions
and Feedback Form. Investors can access all of this information through the consolidated
Investor Complaint and Question Web page. These roughly 20,000 contacts generally can be
grouped into the following three categories:
a) complaints against SEC-regulated individuals or entities;
b) questions concerning the federal securities laws, companies or firms that the SEC
regulates, or other investment-related questions; and
c) tips concerning potential violations of the federal securities laws.
In order to make it easier for investors and for the SEC staff, the SEC replaced the web
forms with one form (the Investor Form). The Investor Form does not ask for any information
that was not on the previous forms, and provides drop down choices for investors so the contacts
can more efficiently be routed to the appropriate staff. The dual purpose of the form is to make it
easier for the public to contact the agency with complaints, questions, tips, or other feedback and
to and to further streamline the workflow of Commission staff that record, process, and respond
to investor contacts.
Investors who submit complaints, ask questions, or provide tips do so voluntarily.
Investors who choose not to use the Investor Form will receive the same level of service as those
who do.

2. Information Collection Purpose
The SEC will use the information that investors supply on the Investor Form for the same
purposes it uses the information collected from the three previous forms: to review and process
the contact (which may, in turn, involve responding to questions, processing complaints, or, as
appropriate, initiating enforcement referrals); to maintain a record of contacts; to track the
volume of investor complaints; and to analyze trends. The Investor Form will also allow
investors to opt-in to receive email alerts about rulemaking and Enforcement actions related to
the issue(s) about which the investor is writing.
The Investor Form asks investors to provide information concerning, among other things,
their names, how they can be reached, the names of the individuals or entities involved, the
nature of their complaint or tip, what documents they can provide, and what, if any, actions they
have taken. Investors do not have to provide their names or other identifying information to
submit a tip or complaint.
3. Consideration Given to Information Technology
The online Investor Form automatically routes the investor’s complaint, question to the
appropriate division or office. Many questions on the Investor Form appear in multiple-choice
format or employ drop-down boxes so that the investor can provide information by simply
checking a box or selecting a pre-loaded option. The drop down options help the SEC deliver
the inquiry to the correct staff members, and recognize trends of inquiry in real time.
Correspondence that is routed to the Division of Enforcement will receive an automatic response.
Contacts not only receive an immediate, online confirmation of their submissions, but they also
receive custom responses from the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, which includes
an automatically generated file number.
4. Duplication of Information
There is no other collection instrument available to collect the information necessary to
meet the purposes described in item 2 above.
5. Reducing the Burden on Small Businesses
The burden of compliance with the information collection requirement does not impact
small businesses or other small entities.
6. Consequences of Not Requiring Collection
Investor use of the Investor Form is strictly voluntary. Moreover, the SEC does not
require investors to submit complaints, questions, tips, or other feedback. Absent the form,

investors still have several ways to contact the agency, including telephone, facsimile, letters,
and e-mail.
7. Inconsistencies with Guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.8(d)
There are no special circumstances. This collection is consistent with the guidelines in
5 CFR 1320.8(d).
8. Consultations Outside the Agency
We have published the required Federal Register Notice allowing public comment. The
60 day notice was published April 12 2011, (76 FR 20386) No comments were received.
9. Payment or Gift to Respondents
There are no such gifts or payments to respondents.
10. Assurance of Confidentiality
A link to the agency’s privacy web site is provided within the form’s web page.
11. Sensitive Questions
No questions will be asked that are of a personal or sensitive nature.
12. Estimate of Hour Burden
We anticipate that the figure of 20,000 contacts will continue to remain consistent, so the
burden is based on 20,000 users annually.
The staff of the SEC estimates that the total reporting burden for using the Investor Form
is 5,000 hours. This calculation is based on the number of investors who use the form each year
and the estimated time it takes to complete the form: 20,000 respondents x 15 minutes = 5,000
burden hours.
13. Estimate of Total Annual Cost Burden
There is no fee or cost to use the Investor Form.
14. Estimate of Cost to Federal Government
Costs are minimal to maintain the electronic form.

15. Explanation of changes in Burden
No changes were made to the previous burden estimate.
16. Information Collection Planned for Statistical Purposes
Not applicable. The information collected is not used for tabulation, statistical analysis
or publication.
17. Approval to Not Display Expiration Date
We request authorization to omit the expiration date on the electronic form for design and
scheduling reasons. The OMB control number will be displayed.
18. Exceptions to Certification Statement
This collection complies with the requirements in 5 CFR 1320.9.