Notice2026-19787
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Investment Company Act Form N-17f-1, Certificate of Accounting of Securities and Similar Investments of a Management Investment Company in the Custody of Members of National Securities Exchanges
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 28, 2026
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 186 (Monday, September 28, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 186 (Monday, September 28, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 61264]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-19787]
[[Page 61264]]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[OMB Control No. 3235-0359]
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request; Extension: Investment Company Act Form N-17f-1,
Certificate of Accounting of Securities and Similar Investments of a
Management Investment Company in the Custody of Members of National
Securities Exchanges
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 (SEC or ``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the
proposed collection of information described below.
Section 17(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') (15
U.S.C. 80a-17(f)) provides in part that a registered management
investment company (``fund'') may maintain its securities and similar
investments in the custody of a ``company which is a member of a
national securities exchange as defined in the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, subject to such rules and regulations as the Commission may
from time to time prescribe for the protection of investors.'' Form N-
17f-1 (17 CFR 274.219) is entitled ``Certificate of Accounting of
Securities and Similar Investments of a Management Investment Company
in the Custody of Members of National Securities Exchanges.'' The form
serves as a cover sheet to the accountant's certificate that is
required to be filed periodically with the Commission pursuant to rule
17f-1 (17 CFR 270.17f-1) under the Act, entitled ``Custody of
Securities with Members of National Securities Exchanges,'' which sets
forth the conditions under which a fund may place its assets in the
custody of a member of a national securities exchange.
Rule 17f-1 requires, among other things, that an independent public
accountant verify the fund's assets at the end of every annual and
semi-annual fiscal period, and at least one other time during the
fiscal year as chosen by the independent accountant. Requiring an
independent accountant to examine the fund's assets in the custody of a
member of a national securities exchange assists Commission staff in
its inspection program and helps to ensure that the fund assets are
subject to proper auditing procedures. The accountant's certificate
stating that it has made an examination, and describing the nature and
the extent of the examination, must be attached to Form N-17f-1 and
filed with the Commission promptly after each examination. The form
facilitates the filing of the accountant's certificates, and increases
the accessibility of the certificates to both Commission staff and
interested investors. If a fund chooses to maintain its assets in the
custody of a national securities exchange member, then regardless of
its size, it must file Form N-17f-1 three times each year, as required
by rule 17f-1.
Commission staff estimates that it takes: (i) 1 hour of clerical
time, at a cost of $142 per hour, to prepare and file Form N-17f-1; and
(ii) 0.5 hour for the fund's chief compliance officer, at a cost of
$730 per hour (or $365 for half an hour), to review Form N-17f-1 prior
to filing with the Commission, for a total of 1.5 hours at a total cost
of $507.\1\ Each fund is required to make 3 filings annually, for a
total annual internal hour burden per fund of approximately 4.5 hours
at a cost of $2,028.\2\ Commission staff estimates that an average of
21 funds currently file Form N-17f-1 with the Commission 3 times each
year, for a total of 62 responses annually.\3\ The staff therefore
estimates that the total annual internal hour burden for Form N-17f-1
is 95 hours at a total cost of $42,588.\4\ Form N-17f-1 does not impose
any paperwork-related external cost burdens.
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\1\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: ($142 +
$365 = $507). We estimate the equivalent cost per response ($507) is
based on the hours per response (1.5) times a blended wage rate. The
estimated $507 hourly cost reflects current estimates of the blended
hourly rate for the securities industry occupations of a general
office clerk, which is $142 an hour, and half of the hourly rate of
a chief compliance officer (that is, a financial manager with a $730
an hour wage rate, half of which is $365). To calculate the
occupational hourly rates used in this release, the Commission uses
occupational mean hourly wage data from the Occupational Employment
and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(BLS) for ``Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial
Investments and Related Activities'' (NAICS 523). See Occupational
Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/">https://www.bls.gov/oes/</a>; see also Standard Occupational
Classification, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/soc/">https://www.bls.gov/soc/</a> (describing occupational classification system used
by BLS); Exec. Off. of the President, Off. of Mgmt. & Budget, North
American Industry Classification System (2022), available at <a href="https://www.census.gov/naics/reference_files_tools/2022_NAICS_Manual.pdf">https://www.census.gov/naics/reference_files_tools/2022_NAICS_Manual.pdf</a>
(describing the industry classification system used by BLS and other
agencies). The mean hourly wage for each occupation is adjusted for
changes in the seasonally adjusted employment cost index for private
wages and salaries between the data reference period and when the
data are released by BLS. See Employment Cost Index, U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/eci/">https://www.bls.gov/eci/</a>. The adjusted mean hourly
wage is then multiplied by a factor that accounts for nonwage costs
borne by employers, such as bonuses, benefits, and overhead. This
factor is calculated as an average over the 10 most recently
available years of data of the ratio of the Bureau of Economic
Analysis's annual gross output data for NAICS 523 to total annual
wages across all occupations for NAICS 523 in the OEWS data. See
Gross Output by Industry, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, <a href="https://www.bea.gov/data/industries/gross-output-by-industry">https://www.bea.gov/data/industries/gross-output-by-industry</a>; Occupational
Employment and Wage Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
<a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/">https://www.bls.gov/oes/</a>. The final product is the occupational
hourly rate. See generally Updated Methodology for Calculating
Occupational Hourly Rates (Dec. 19, 2025), available at <a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/method-occupational-hourlyrates.pdf">https://www.sec.gov/files/method-occupational-hourlyrates.pdf</a>.
\2\ This estimate is based on the following calculations: (1.5
hours x 3 responses annually = 4.5 hours); ($507 per response x 3
responses annually = $1,521).
\3\ This estimate is based on a review of Form N-17f-1 filings
made with the Commission over the last three years.
\4\ This estimate is based on the following calculations: (4.5
hours x 21 funds = 94.5 total hours); ($1,521 x 21 funds = $31,941).
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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.
Written comments are invited on: (a) whether this proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the SEC, including whether the information will have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the SEC's estimate of the burden
imposed by the proposed collection of information, including the
validity of the methodology and the assumptions used; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including through the use of automated,
electronic collection techniques or other forms of information
technology.
Please direct your written comments on this 60-Day Collection
Notice to Austin Gerig, Director/Chief Data Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Tanya Ruttenberg via email to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1747766772656078657c4572736274637e78795674635764727439707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3f6f5e4f5a4d48504d546d5a5b4a5c4b5650517e5c4b7f4c5a5c11585049">[email protected]</span></a> by November 27, 2026.
Dated: September 24, 2026.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-19787 Filed 9-25-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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