Notice2022-04891
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 248.30
Primary source
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Published
March 8, 2022
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13026-13027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04891]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270-549, OMB Control No. 3235-0610]
Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 248.30
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, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 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.
Rule 248.30 (17 CFR 248.30) under Regulation S-P is titled
``Procedures to Safeguard Customer Records and Information; Disposal of
Consumer Report Information.'' Rule 248.30 (the ``safeguard rule'')
requires brokers, dealers, investment companies, and investment
advisers registered with the Commission (``registered investment
advisers'') (collectively ``covered institutions'') to adopt written
policies and procedures for administrative, technical, and physical
safeguards to protect customer records and information. The safeguards
must be reasonably designed to ``insure the security and
confidentiality of customer records and information,'' ``protect
against any anticipated threats or hazards to the security and
integrity'' of those records, and protect against unauthorized access
to or use of those records or information, which ``could result in
substantial harm or inconvenience to any customer.'' The safeguard
rule's requirement that covered institutions' policies and procedures
be documented in writing constitutes a collection of information and
must be maintained on an ongoing basis. This requirement eliminates
uncertainty as to required employee actions to protect customer records
and information and promotes more systematic and organized reviews of
safeguard policies and procedures by institutions. The information
collection also assists the Commission's examination staff in assessing
the existence and adequacy of covered institutions' safeguard policies
and procedures.
We estimate that as of the end of 2020, there are 3,681 broker-
dealers, 2,840 investment companies, and 13,788 investment advisers
registered with the Commission, for a total of 20,309 covered
institutions. We believe that all of these covered institutions have
already documented their safeguard policies and procedures in writing
and therefore will incur no hourly burdens related to the initial
documentation of policies and procedures. Although existing covered
institutions would not incur any initial hourly burden in complying
with the safeguards rule, we expect that newly registered institutions
would incur some hourly burdens associated with documenting their
safeguard policies and procedures. We estimate that approximately 1,375
broker-dealers, investment companies, or investment advisers register
with the Commission annually. However, we also expect that
approximately 20% of these newly registered covered institutions, or
372 institutions, are affiliated with an existing covered institution,
and will rely on an organization-wide set of previously documented
safeguard policies and procedures created by their affiliates. We
estimate that these affiliated newly registered covered institutions
will incur a significantly reduced hourly burden in complying with the
safeguards rule, as they will need only to review their affiliate's
existing policies and procedures, and identify and adopt the relevant
policies for their business. Therefore, we expect that newly registered
covered institutions with existing affiliates will incur an hourly
burden of approximately 15 hours in identifying and adopting safeguard
policies and procedures for their business, for a total hourly burden
for all affiliated new institutions of 5,580 hours. We expect that half
of this time would be incurred by inside counsel at an hourly rate of
$455, and half would be by a compliance officer at an hourly rate of
$400, for a total cost of $2,385,450.
Finally, we expect that the 1,003 newly registered entities that
are not affiliated with an existing institution will incur a
significantly higher hourly burden in reviewing and documenting their
safeguard policies and procedures. We expect that virtually all of the
newly registered covered entities that do not have an affiliate are
likely to be small entities and are likely to have smaller and less
complex operations, with a correspondingly smaller set of safeguard
policies and procedures to document, compared to other larger existing
institutions with multiple affiliates. We estimate that it will take a
typical newly registered unaffiliated institution approximately 60
hours to review, identify, and document their safeguard policies and
procedures, for a total of 60,180 hours for all newly registered
unaffiliated entities. We expect that half of this time would be
incurred by inside counsel at an hourly rate of $455, and half would be
by a compliance officer at an hourly rate of $400, for a total cost of
$25,726,950.
Therefore, we estimate that the total annual hourly burden
associated with the safeguards rule is 65,760 hours at a total hourly
cost of $28,112,400. We also estimate that all covered institutions
will be respondents each year, for a total of 20,309 respondents.
These estimates of average burden hours are made solely for the
purposes 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
safeguard rule does not require the reporting of any information or the
filing of any documents with the Commission. The collection of
information required by the safeguard rule is mandatory.
Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Commission, including whether the information
shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's
estimates of the burden of the proposed 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 by May 9, 2022.
[[Page 13027]]
Please direct your written comments to David Bottom, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O John
Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549; or send an email to:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#29797b6876644840454b4651695a4c4a074e465f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="37676576687a565e5b55584f7744525419505841">[email protected]</span></a>.
Dated: March 3, 2022.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-04891 Filed 3-7-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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