

[Federal Register: January 30, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 20)]
[Notices]               
[Page 5602-5603]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30ja08-121]                         

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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 Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 
20549-0213.

Extension:
    Rule 204A-1; SEC File No. 270-536; OMB Control No. 3235-0596.

    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 a 
request for extension of the previously approved collection of 
information discussed below.
    The title for the collection of information is ``Rule 204A-1 (17 
CFR 275.204A-1) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940'' (15 U.S.C. 
80b-1 et seq.). Rule 204A-1, the Code of Ethics Rule, requires 
investment advisers registered with the SEC to (i) set forth standards 
of conduct expected of advisory personnel (including compliance with 
the federal securities laws), (ii) safeguard material nonpublic 
information about client transactions, and (iii) require the adviser's 
``access persons'' to report their personal securities transactions, 
including transactions in any mutual fund managed by the adviser. The 
code of ethics also requires access persons to obtain the adviser's 
approval before investing in an initial public offering (``IPO'') or 
private placement. The code of ethics also requires prompt reporting, 
to the adviser's chief compliance officer or another person designated 
in the code of ethics, of any violations of the code. Finally, the code 
of ethics requires the adviser to provide each supervised person with a 
copy of the code and any amendments, and require the supervised persons 
to acknowledge, in writing, their receipt of these copies. The purposes 
of the information collection requirements is (i) to ensure that 
advisers maintain codes of ethics applicable to their supervised 
persons; (ii) to provide advisers with information about the personal 
securities transactions of their access persons for purposes of 
monitoring such transactions; (iii) to provide advisory clients with 
information with which to evaluate advisers' codes of ethics; and (iv) 
to assist the Commission's examination staff in assessing the adequacy 
of advisers' codes of ethics and assessing personal trading activity by 
advisers' supervised persons.
    The respondents to this information collection are investment 
advisers registered with the Commission. The Commission has estimated 
that compliance with rule 204A-1 imposes a burden of approximately 117 
hours per adviser annually based on an average adviser having 84 access 
persons. Our latest data indicate that there were 10,817 advisers 
registered with the Commission. Based on this figure, the Commission 
estimates a total annual burden of approximately 1,265,865 hours for 
this collection of information.
    Rule 204A-1 does not require recordkeeping or record retention. The 
collection of information requirements under the rule are mandatory. 
The information collected pursuant to the rule are not filed with the 
Commission, but rather take the form of communications between advisers 
and their supervised persons. Investment advisers use the information 
collected to control and assess the personal trading activities of 
their supervised persons. Responses to the reporting requirements will 
be kept confidential to the extent each investment adviser provides 
confidentiality under its particular practices and procedures. 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.
    Please direct general comments regarding the above information to 
the

[[Page 5603]]

following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive 
Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or e-mail to: 
Alexander_T._Hunt@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, VA 22312; or send an e-mail to: 
PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days 

of this notice.

    Dated: January 23, 2008.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-1619 Filed 1-29-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
