Notice2026-18634
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 15b9-1
Primary source
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Published
September 14, 2026
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 176 (Monday, September 14, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 176 (Monday, September 14, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58236-58237]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-18634]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[OMB Control No. 3235-0743]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 15b9-1
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 1 995 (44 U.S.C.Sec. 3501 et seq. (``PRA''), the Securities and
Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') is submitting to the
Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') this request for extension of
the proposed and collection of information provided for in Rule 15b9-1
(17 CFR 240.15b9-1), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act'') (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.).
Section 15(b)(8) of the Act requires any broker or dealer
registered with the Commission to become a member of a registered
national securities association (``Association'') unless the broker or
dealer effects transactions in securities solely on an exchange of
which it is a member. This statutory provision sets forth a
complementary self-regulatory organization (``SRO'') oversight
structure pursuant to which exchange SROs historically have overseen
their own exchanges and The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority,
Inc. (``FINRA'') (the only Association currently) historically has
overseen cross-exchange and off-exchange securities trading
activity.\1\ Section 15(b)(9) of the Act provides the Commission with
authority to exempt any broker or dealer from Section 15(b)(8), if that
exemption is consistent with the public interest and the protection of
investors.\2\ The Commission adopted amendments to Rule 15b9-1 \3\ that
require a broker or dealer to join an Association if it effects
transactions in securities elsewhere than on an exchange to which it
belongs as a member, unless it can rely upon one of the amended rule's
narrow, contemporary-market-appropriate exceptions from Section
15(b)(8).\4\ Conversely, a broker or dealer would not need to become a
member of an Association if it effects securities transactions only on
an exchange of which it is a member.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78o(b)(8).
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 78o(b)(9).
\3\ 17 CFR 240.15b9-1.
\4\ See Exchange Act Release No. 98202, (Aug. 23, 2023), 88 FR
61850 (Sep. 7, 2023) (``Adopting Release''); see also, Exchange Act
Release No. 95388 (Jul. 29, 2022), 87 FR 49930 (Aug. 12, 2022)
(``Re-Proposal'').
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Specifically, Rule 15b9-1, as amended, permits an exemption from
Association membership only where a broker or dealer that does not
carry customer accounts effects securities transactions otherwise than
on a national securities exchange of which it is a member that: (1)
result solely from orders that are routed by a national securities
exchange of which the broker or dealer is a member to comply with Rule
611 of Regulation NMS or the Options Order Protection and Locked/
Crossed Market Plan; or (2) are solely for the purpose of executing the
stock leg of a stock-option order (``stock-option order exemption'').
For purposes of relying on the stock-option order exemption
provided by Rule 15b9-1(c)(2), a broker or dealer must establish,
maintain and enforce written policies and procedures reasonably
designed to ensure and demonstrate that such transactions are solely
for the purpose of executing the stock leg of a stock-option order. The
broker or dealer is required to preserve a copy of its policies and
procedures in a manner consistent with 17 CFR 240.17a-4 until three
years after the date the policies and procedures are replaced with
updated policies and procedures. These requirements associated with the
stock-option order exemption constitute ``collection of information
requirements'' within the meaning of the PRA.
The collection of information is designed to provide the Commission
with enhanced oversight capabilities, consistent with the public
interest and protection of investors, by requiring written policies and
procedures in connection with the stock-option exemption in paragraph
(c)(2) of the amended rule. This requirement helps facilitate exchange
SRO supervision of brokers and dealers relying on the stock-option
order exemption by providing an efficient and effective way for the
relevant options exchange to assess its members' compliance with the
terms of the exemption, as set forth in amended Rule 15b9-1.
The Commission estimates that the total initial reporting burden
for those broker-dealers that may rely upon the stock-option order
exemption provided for under Rule 15b9-1 would be approximately 8.01
hours per year (annualized over a three-year period) and the total
ongoing reporting burden would be approximately 144 hours per year. The
Commission estimates that 3 non-FINRA brokers or dealers would rely on
the stock-option order exemption.\5\
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\5\ The Commission cannot discern whether the 3 non-FINRA
brokers or dealers rely on the stock-option order exemption newly or
on an ongoing basis. As such, the Commission sets forth herein both
estimated initial and ongoing reporting burdens.
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The Commission estimates that it would take a broker or dealer
approximately 8 hours to establish written policies and procedures as
required under Rule 15b9-1.\6\ Annualized over a three-year period,
this amounts to an initial burden of approximately 2.67 hours per
broker or dealer, per year \7\ and an aggregate, initial burden of
approximately 8.01 hours per year.\8\
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\6\ This figure is based on the following: (Compliance Manager
at 5 hours) + (Compliance Attorney at 2.5 hours) + (Director of
Compliance at 0.5 hour) = 8 burden hours per broker or dealer.
\7\ This figure is based on the following: (8 burden hours per
broker or dealer)/(3 years) = 2.67 initial burden hours per broker
or dealer, per year.
\8\ This figure is based on the following: (2.67 burden hours
per broker or dealer) x (3 brokers and dealers) = 8.01 aggregate
initial burden hours per year.
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The Commission estimates that the ongoing burden of maintaining and
enforcing such policies and procedures, and ensuring that such policies
and procedures are reasonably designed to ensure and demonstrate that
such transactions are solely for the purpose of executing the stock leg
of a stock-option order, would be approximately 48 hours for each
broker or dealer per year.\9\
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\9\ This figure is based on the following: (Compliance Manager
at 30 hours) + (Compliance Attorney at 12 hours) + (Director of
Compliance at 6 hours) = 48 burden hours per broker or dealer. In
estimating these burden hours, the Commission also examined the
estimated initial and ongoing burden hours imposed on registered
security-based swap dealers under Regulation SBSR--Reporting and
Dissemination of Security-Based Swap Information. See Exchange Act
Release No. 74244 (Feb. 11, 2015), 80 FR 14564, 14683 (Mar. 19,
2015) (``Regulation SBSR''). Regulation SBSR requires registered
security-based swap dealers to establish, maintain, and enforce
written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to
ensure compliance with any security-based swap transaction reporting
obligations. Id. The estimated initial and ongoing compliance burden
on registered security-based swap dealers under Regulation SBSR were
216 burden hours and 120 burden hours, respectively. Id. The
policies and procedures under Rule 15b9-1 are much more limited in
nature.
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Based on an estimated annual burden of 48 hours per broker or
dealer, the Commission estimates that the aggregate, ongoing burden to
maintain and enforce written policies and procedures as required under
Rule 15b9-1 would be 144 hours per year.\10\ As a result, the total
industry burden, including the initial burden and the
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ongoing burden, would be approximately 152.01 hours per year.\11\
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\10\ This figure is based on the following: (48 burden hours per
broker or dealer) x (3 non-FINRA brokers and dealers) = 144
aggregate, ongoing burden hours per year.
\11\ This figure is based on the following: (8.01 aggregate,
initial burden hours) + (144 aggregate, ongoing burden hours) =
152.01 total burden hours per year.
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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.
The public may view and comment on this information collection
request at: <a href="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202606-3235-015">https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202606-3235-015</a> or email comment to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8dc0cfd5a3c2c0cfa3c2c4dfcca3dec8ced2e9e8fee6d2e2ebebe4eee8ffcde2e0efa3e8e2fda3eae2fb"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c18c8399ef8e8c83ef8e889380ef9284829ea5a4b2aa9eaea7a7a8a2a4b381aeaca3efa4aeb1efa6aeb7">[email protected]</span></a> within 30 days of the day
after publication of this notice, by October 15, 2026.
Dated: September 9, 2026.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-18634 Filed 9-11-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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