[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 133 (Friday, July 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Page 41635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14753]


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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 FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 
20549-2736

Extension: Rule 206(4)-6, SEC File No. 270-513, OMB Control No. 
3235-0571

    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 
(``OMB'') a request for extension of the previously approved collection 
of information discussed below.
    The title for the collection of information is ``Rule 206(4)-6'' 
under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b-1 et seq.) 
(``Advisers Act'') and the collection has been approved under OMB 
Control No. 3235-0571. The Commission adopted rule 206(4)-6 (17 CFR 
275.206(4)-6), the proxy voting rule, to address an investment 
adviser's fiduciary obligation to clients who have given the adviser 
authority to vote their securities. Under the rule, an investment 
adviser that exercises voting authority over client securities is 
required to: (i) Adopt and implement policies and procedures that are 
reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes securities in the 
best interest of clients, including procedures to address any material 
conflict that may arise between the interest of the adviser and the 
client; (ii) disclose to clients how they may obtain information on how 
the adviser has voted with respect to their securities; and (iii) 
describe to clients the adviser's proxy voting policies and procedures 
and, on request, furnish a copy of the policies and procedures to the 
requesting client. The rule is designed to assure that advisers that 
vote proxies for their clients vote those proxies in their clients' 
best interest and provide clients with information about how their 
proxies were voted.
    Rule 206(4)-6 contains ``collection of information'' requirements 
within the meaning of the Paperwork Reduction Act. 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 collection is mandatory and responses to the disclosure 
requirement are not kept confidential.
    The respondents are investment advisers registered with the 
Commission that vote proxies with respect to clients' securities. 
Advisory clients of these investment advisers use the information 
required by the rule to assess investment advisers' proxy voting 
policies and procedures and to monitor the advisers' performance of 
their proxy voting activities. The information required by Advisers Act 
rule 204-2, a recordkeeping rule, also is used by the Commission staff 
in its examination and oversight program. Without the information 
collected under the rules, advisory clients would not have information 
they need to assess the adviser's services and monitor the adviser's 
handling of their accounts, and the Commission would be less efficient 
and effective in its programs.
    The estimated number of investment advisers subject to the 
collection of information requirements under the rule is 12,265. It is 
estimated that each of these advisers is required to spend on average 
10 hours annually documenting its proxy voting procedures under the 
requirements of the rule, for a total burden of 122,650 hours. We 
further estimate that on average, approximately 279 clients of each 
adviser would request copies of the underlying policies and procedures. 
We estimate that it would take these advisers 0.1 hours per client to 
deliver copies of the policies and procedures, for a total burden of 
342,194 hours. Accordingly, we estimate that rule 206(4)-6 results in 
an annual aggregate burden of collection for SEC-registered investment 
advisers of a total of 464,844 hours.
    Records related to an adviser's proxy voting policies and 
procedures and proxy voting history are separately required under the 
Advisers Act recordkeeping rule 204-2 (17 CFR 275.204-2). The standard 
retention period required for books and records under rule 204-2 is 
five years, in an easily accessible place, the first two years in an 
appropriate office of the investment adviser. OMB has previously 
approved the collection with this retention period. 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 to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information 
Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F 
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: 
PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.

    Dated: July 2, 2020.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-14753 Filed 7-9-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


