Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Form N-PX

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May 11, 2023

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Securities and Exchange Commission

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 91 (Thursday, May 11, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 91 (Thursday, May 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30377-30379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10002]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-524, OMB Control No. 3235-0582]

Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Form N-PX

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

[[Page 30378]]

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (``Paperwork Reduction Act''), 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 (``OMB'') for extension and approval.
On November 2, 2022, the Commission adopted rule and form
amendments (``Amendments'') that would enhance the information funds
report on Form N-PX and make that information easier to analyze.\1\ The
Commission also adopted a new rule that would require an institutional
investment manager subject to section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') to report annually on Form N-PX how it
voted proxies relating to executive compensation matters, as required
by section 14A of the Exchange Act. The Amendments require funds (and,
for executive compensation matters, institutional investment managers)
to (i) identify voting matters using language from the issuer's form of
proxy (with certain exceptions for issuers who are not subject to the
Commission's proxy rules) and categorize their votes from a list of
categories; (ii) disclose quantitative information regarding the number
of votes cast (or instructed to be cast) and the number of shares not
voted because they are out on loan; and (iii) file reports in an XML
structured data language using a standardized format. In addition, the
Amendments included changes to Forms N-1A, N-2, and N-3 that require
funds, if they have a website, to disclose that their proxy voting
records are publicly available on or through their websites, free of
charge, and to make this information available on or through its
website as soon as reasonably practicable after filing a report on Form
N-PX with the Commission.
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\1\ Enhanced Reporting of Proxy Votes by Registered Management
Investment Companies; Reporting of Executive Compensation Votes by
Institutional Investment Managers, Investment Company Release No.
34745 (November 2, 2022) [87 FR 78770 (Dec. 22, 2022)] (``Adopting
Release'').
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The purpose of Form N-PX is to meet the filing and disclosure
requirements of rules under the Act and also to enable funds to provide
investors with information necessary to evaluate overall patterns in
the manager's voting behavior. This information collection is primarily
for the use and benefit of investors. The information filed with the
Commission also permits the verification of compliance with securities
law requirements and assures the public availability and dissemination
of the information. Due to the Amendments, Form N-PX will also be used
by institutional investment managers to meet the filing and disclosure
requirements of section 14A under the Exchange Act.
The table below summarizes our estimates associated with the
amendments to Form N-PX that the Amendments address:

Form N-PX PRA Estimates
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Internal Internal Annual
initial annual burden Wage rate \2\ Internal time external cost
burden hours hours \1\ costs burden
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Funds Holding Equity Securities
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per .............. 7.2 x \3\ $400 $2,880 $1,000
response..............................................
Estimated initial burden to accommodate new reporting 36 12 x \4\ 349 $4,188 $500
requirements..........................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with .............. 12 x \5\ 349 $4,188 $1,000
amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Website availability requirement \6\................... .............. 0.5 x \7\ 272 $136 ..............
Estimated number of annual responses \8\............... .............. x 5,496 .............. x 5,496 x 5,496
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Total annual burden................................ .............. 188,490 ............... .............. $67,737,479 $14,865,142
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Funds Not Holding Equity Securities
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per .............. 0.17 x \3\ 400 $68 ..............
response..............................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with .............. .............. .............. .............. ..............
amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Estimated number of annual responses \8\............... .............. x 2,588 .............. x 2,588 ..............
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Total annual burden................................ .............. 440 ............... .............. $176,005 ..............
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Funds of Funds
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per .............. 1 x \3\ 400 $400 $100
response..............................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with .............. 0.5 x \3\ 400 $200 $100
amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Website availability requirement \6\................... .............. 0.5 x \6\ 272 $136 ..............
Estimated number of annual responses \8\............... .............. x 1,619 .............. x 1,619 x 1,619
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Total annual burden................................ .............. 3,238 ............... .............. $1,191,584 $323,800
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[[Page 30379]]

Institutional Investment Managers
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Changes to systems to accommodate new reporting 45 15 x \9\ 349 $5,235 $500
requirements..........................................
Estimated annual burden associated with Form N-PX .............. 7.5 x \10\ 343 $2,573 $2,000
filing requirement....................................
Estimated number of annual responses................... .............. x 8,381 .............. x 8,381 x 8,381
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Total annual burden................................ .............. 188,572 ............... .............. $65,438,848 $20,952,500
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Total Burden
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Currently Approved Burden.............................. .............. 47,984 .............. .............. $17,657,958
Additional Burden Associated with Amendments........... .............. 332,757 .............. .............. $18,483,484
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Total Burden....................................... .............. 380,741 ............... .............. .............. $36,141,445
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Certain products and sums do not tie due to rounding.
\1\ Includes initial burden estimates amortized over a three-year period.
\2\ The Commission's estimates of the relevant wage rates are based on salary information for the securities industry compiled by the Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Association's Office Salaries in the Securities Industry 2013. The estimated figures are modified by firm size,
employee benefits, overhead, and adjusted annually to account for the effects of inflation, with the last adjustment before the adoption of the
Amendments occurring in early 2022. See Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Report on Management & Professional Earnings in the
Securities Industry 2013.
\3\ Represents the estimated hourly wage rate of a compliance attorney.
\4\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney and includes, inter alia, the costs of obtaining from
service providers data on the number of shares on loan but not recalled. In the case of the final estimates, the blended hourly rate is based on 18
hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 18 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\5\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates, the blended hourly
rate is based on 6 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 6 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\6\ While the Amendments will require funds to disclose that their proxy voting records both are available on fund websites and will be delivered to
investors upon request, the Form N-PX PRA estimates includes only the burdens associated with website posting. Funds' registration forms currently
require them to disclose that they either make their proxy voting records available on their websites or deliver them upon request. We understand most
funds deliver proxy voting records upon request and, therefore, the burdens of delivery upon request are already included in the information
collection burdens of each relevant registration form.
\7\ Represents the estimated hourly wage rate of a webmaster.
\8\ These estimates are conducted for each fund portfolio, not for each filing, and are an average estimate across all Form N-PX reporting persons. In
certain cases, a single Form N-PX filing will report the proxy voting records of multiple fund portfolios. In those circumstances, the reporting
person will bear the burden associated with each fund portfolio it reported. This average estimate takes into account higher costs for funds filing
reports for multiple portfolios without assuming any economies of scale that multiple-portfolio fund complexes may be able to achieve.
\9\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates,the blended hourly
rate is based on 22.5 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 22.5 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\10\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates, the blended
hourly rate is based on 3 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 4.5 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.

The table above summarizes our PRA initial and ongoing annual
burden estimates associated with Form N-PX, as amended. In the
aggregate, we estimate the total annual burden to comply with amended
Form N-PX to be 380,741 hours, with an average external cost of
$36,141,445.
Compliance with Form N-PX is mandatory. Responses to the collection
of information requirements will not be kept confidential.
The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and is not derived from a
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of
Commission rules and forms. 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 OMB control number.
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
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 by July 10, 2023.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
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#613133203e2c00080d030e19211204024f060e17"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="207072617f6d41494c424f58605345430e474f56">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>.

Dated: May 5, 2023.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-10002 Filed 5-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P

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