30-Day Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 20, 2024 / Notices
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–392, OMB Control No.
3235–0447]

khammond on DSK9W7S144PROD with NOTICES

Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Extension: Rule
17f–6
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, under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44
U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the
‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget a
request for extension of the previously
approved collection of information
discussed below.
Rule 17f–6 (17 CFR 270.17f–6) under
the Investment Company Act of 1940
(15 U.S.C. 80a) permits registered
investment companies (‘‘funds’’) to
maintain assets (i.e., margin) with
futures commission merchants
(‘‘FCMs’’) in connection with
commodity transactions effected on
both domestic and foreign exchanges.
Before the rule was adopted, funds
generally were required to maintain
such assets in special accounts with a
custodian bank.
The rule requires a written contract
that contains certain provisions
designed to ensure important safeguards
and other benefits relating to the
custody of fund assets by FCMs. To
protect fund assets, the contract must
require that FCMs comply with the
segregation or secured amount
requirements of the Commodity
Exchange Act (‘‘CEA’’) and the rules
under that statute. The contract also
must contain a requirement that FCMs
obtain an acknowledgment from any
clearing organization that the fund’s
assets are held on behalf of the FCM’s
customers according to CEA provisions.
Because rule 17f–6 does not impose
any ongoing obligations on funds or
FCMs, Commission staff estimates there
are only costs related to new contracts
between funds and FCMs. This estimate
does not include the time required by an
FCM to comply with the rule’s contract
requirements because, to the extent that
complying with the contract provisions
could be considered ‘‘collections of
information,’’ the burden hours for
compliance are already included in
other PRA submissions.1 Commission
1 The rule requires a contract with the FCM to
contain two provisions requiring the FCM to
comply with existing requirements under the CEA

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staff estimates that approximately 1,164
series of 151 funds which report that
futures commission merchants and
commodity clearing organizations
provide custodial services to the fund.2
Based on these estimates, the total
annual burden hours associated with
rule 17f–6 is 27 hours. The estimated
total annual burden hours associated
with rule 17f–6 have decreased 1 hour,
from 28 to 27 hours and external costs
increased from $11,900 to $15,534.
These changes in burden hours and
external costs reflect changes in the
number of affected entities and in the
external cost associated with the
information collection requirements.
These changes reflect revised estimates.
These estimates are made solely for
the purposes of the Paperwork
Reduction Act, and are not derived from
a comprehensive or even a
representative survey or study of the
costs of Commission rules and forms.
The collections of information
requirements of the rule are necessary to
obtain the benefit of relying on the rule.
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.
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 by December 20, 2024 to (i)
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain or
MBX.OMB.OIRA.SEC_desk_officer@
omb.eop.gov, and (ii) Austin Gerig,
Director/Chief Data Officer, Securities
and Exchange Commission, c/o Tanya
Ruttenberg, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an
email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.
and rules adopted thereunder; thus, to the extent
these provisions could be considered collections of
information, the hours required for compliance
would be included in the collection of information
burden hours submitted by the CFTC for its rules.
2 This estimate is based on the average number of
funds that reported on Form N–CEN from April
2021–March 2024, in response to sub-items C.12.6.
and D.14.6; money market funds are excluded from
this estimate because exchange-traded futures
contracts or commodity options are not eligible
securities for money market funds; the number of
series and funds that reported on Form N–CEN in
response these sub-items were: 1,112 series of 150
funds for the period April 2021–March 2022; 1,180
series of 152 funds for the period April 2022–March
2023; and 1,210 series of 151 funds for the period
April 2023–March 2024 (for filings received
through June 30, 2024).

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Dated: November 15, 2024.
Vanessa A. Countryman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024–27117 Filed 11–19–24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–101621; File No. SR–OCC–
2024–013]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Options Clearing Corporation; Order
Approving Proposed Rule Change by
The Options Clearing Corporation
Concerning Modifications to Its ByLaws and Rules Primarily To
Discontinue Certain Outmoded or
Unused Products and Services
November 14, 2024.

I. Introduction
On September 13, 2024, The Options
Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’), filed
with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule
19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule
change to make modifications to its ByLaws and Rules primarily to
discontinue certain outmoded or
unused products and services
(‘‘Proposed Rule Change’’). The
Proposed Rule Change was published
for comment in the Federal Register on
October 1, 2024.3 The Commission has
not received any comments on the
Proposed Rule Change. For the reasons
discussed below, the Commission is
approving the Proposed Rule Change.
II. Description of the Proposed Rule
Change
OCC is a clearing agency that clears a
number of transactions including
standardized equity options listed on
national securities exchanges and
registered with the Commission, stock
loans, and futures.4 Since 2000, for its
core clearing, risk management, and
data management applications, OCC has
relied on a platform it calls ‘‘ENCORE.’’
ENCORE operates in on-premises data
1 15

U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101189
(Sept. 25, 2024), 89 FR 79978 (Oct. 1, 2024) (File
No. SR–OCC–2024–013) (‘‘Notice’’).
4 All capitalized terms not defined herein have
the same meaning as set forth in the OCC By-Laws
and Rules, available at https://www.theocc.com/
Company-Information/Documents-and-Archives/
By-Laws-and-Rules.
2 17

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