

[Federal Register: August 25, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 165)]
[Notices]               
[Page 50480]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr25au06-136]                         

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 
20549.

Extension:
    Rule 17i-5, SEC File No. 270-531, OMB Control No. 3235-0590.

    Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995\1\ the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') 
intends to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a request for 
extension of the previously approved collection of information 
discussed below. The Code of Federal Regulation citation to this 
collection of information is the following rule: 17 CFR 240.17i-5.
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    \1\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
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    Section 231 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 \2\ (the 
``GLBA'') amended Section 17 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to 
create a regulatory framework under which a holding company of a 
broker-dealer (``investment bank holding company'' or ``IBHC'') may 
voluntarily be supervised by the Commission as a supervised investment 
bank holding company (or ``SIBHC'').\3\ In 2004, the Commission 
promulgated rules, including Rule 17i-5, to create a framework for the 
Commission to supervise SIBHCs.\4\ This framework includes 
qualification criteria for SIBHCs, as well as recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements. Among other things, this regulatory framework 
for SIBHCs is intended to provide a basis for non-U.S. financial 
regulators to treat the Commission as the principal U.S. consolidated, 
home-country supervisor for SIBHCs and their affiliated broker-
dealers.\5\
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    \2\ Pub. L. No. 106-102, 113 Stat. 1338 (1999).
    \3\ See 15 U.S.C. 78q(i).
    \4\ See Exchange Act Release No. 49831 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 
34472 (Jun. 21, 2004).
    \5\ See H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 106-434, 165 (1999). See also 
Exchange Act Release No. 49831, at 6 (Jun. 8, 2004), 69 FR 34472, at 
34473 (Jun. 21, 2004).
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    Pursuant to Section 17(i)(3)(A) of the Exchange Act, an SIBHC would 
be required to make and keep records, furnish copies thereof, and make 
such reports as the Commission may require by rule.\6\ Rule 17i-5 would 
require that an SIBHC make and keep current certain records relating to 
its business. In addition, it would require that an SIBHC preserve 
those and other records for certain prescribed time periods.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78q(i)(3)(A).
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    The collections of information required pursuant to Rule 17i-5 are 
necessary so that the Commission can adequately supervise the 
activities of these SIBHCs. In addition, these collections of 
information are needed to allow the Commission to effectively determine 
whether supervision of an IBHC as an SIBHC is necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of section 17 of the Act. Rule 17i-5 
also enhances the Commission's supervision of the SIBHCs' subsidiary 
broker-dealers through collection of additional information and 
inspections of affiliates of those broker-dealers. Without this 
information and documentation, the Commission would be unable to 
adequately supervise an SIBHC, nor would it be able to determine 
whether continued supervision of an IBHC as an SIBHC were necessary and 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of section 17 of the Act.
    We estimate that three IBHCs will file Notices of Intention with 
the Commission to be supervised by the Commission as SIBHCs. An SIBHC 
will require, on average, approximately 64 hours each quarter to create 
a record regarding stress tests, or approximately 256 hours each year. 
In addition, an SIBHC will generally require about 40 hours to create 
and document a contingency plan regarding funding and liquidity of the 
affiliate group. Further, an SIBHC will establish approximately 20 new 
counterparty arrangements each year, and will take, on average, about 
30 minutes to create a record regarding the basis for credit risk 
weights for each such counterparty.\7\ Finally, an SIBHC will generally 
require about 24 hours per year to maintain the specified records.
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    \7\ On average, each firm presently maintains relationships with 
approximately 1,000 counterparties. Further, firms generally already 
maintain documentation regarding their credit decisions, including 
their determination of credit risk weights, for those 
counterparties.
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    We believe that an IBHC likely would upgrade its information 
technology (``IT'') systems in order to more efficiently comply with 
certain of the SIBHC framework rules (including Rules 17i-4, 17i-5, 
17i-6 and 17i-7), and that this would be a one-time cost. Depending on 
the state of development of the IBHC's IT systems, it would cost an 
IBHC between $1 million and $10 million to upgrade its IT systems to 
comply with the SIBHC framework of rules. Thus, on average, it would 
cost each of the three IBHCs about $5.5 million to upgrade their IT 
systems, or approximately $16.5 million in total. It is impossible to 
determine what percentage of the IT systems costs would be attributable 
to each Rule, so we allocated the total estimated upgrade costs equally 
(at 25% for each of the above-mentioned Rules), with $4,125,000 
attributable to Rule 17i-5.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information 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.
    Comments should be directed to: R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley 
Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, Virginia 22312 or send 
an e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted within 
60 days of this notice.

    Dated: August 15, 2006.
Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E6-14126 Filed 8-24-06; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
