
[Federal Register: March 30, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 59)]
[Notices]               
[Page 14174-14175]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30mr09-106]                         

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

 
Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 
20549-0213.

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. 350l et seq. ), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (the ``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the 
collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to 
submit this existing collection of information to the Office of 
Management and Budget for extension and approval.
    Section 27(e) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') (15 
U.S.C. 80a-27(e)) provides in part that a registered investment company 
issuing a periodic payment plan certificate,\1\ or any depositor or 
underwriter for such company (collectively ``issuer''), 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

[[Page 14175]]

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 * * * ''.
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    \1\ As discussed below, the Military Personnel Financial 
Services Protection Act banned the issuance or sale of new periodic 
payment plans, effective October 2006.
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    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.
    Effective October 27, 2006, the Military Personnel Financial 
Services Protection Act banned the issuance or sale of new periodic 
payment plans. Accordingly, the staff estimates that there is no longer 
any information collection burden associated with rule 27e-1 and Form 
N-27E-1. For administrative purposes, however, we are requesting 
approval for an information collection burden of one hour per year. 
This estimate of burden hours is not derived from a comprehensive or 
necessarily even a representative study of the cost of the Commission's 
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.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission'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. Consideration will be given to 
comments and suggestions submitted in writing within 60 days of this 
publication.
    Please direct your written comments to Charles Boucher, Director/
CIO, 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.

    Dated: March 24, 2009.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E9-6964 Filed 3-27-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
