Rules and Regulations. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

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BILLING CODE 6325-49-P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 17a-7, SEC File No. 270-147, OMB Control No. 3235-0131. 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.

Rule 17a-7 [17 CFR. 240.17a-7] under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires non-resident brokers or dealers registered or applying for registration pursuant to Section 15 of the Exchange Act to maintain—in the United States—complete and current copies of books and records required to be maintained under any rule adopted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Alternatively, Rule 17a-7 provides that the non-resident broker or dealer may sign a written undertaking to furnish the requisite books and records to the Commission upon demand.

There are approximately 65 non-resident brokers and dealers. Based on the Commission's experience in this area, it is estimated that the average amount of time necessary to preserve the books and records required by Rule 17a-7 is one hour per year. Accordingly, the total burden is 65 hours per year. With an average cost per hour of approximately $55.00, the total cost of compliance for the respondents is $3,575 per year. There are no individual record retention periods in Rule 17a-7.

Compliance with the rule is mandatory. However, non-resident brokers and dealers may opt to provide the records upon request of the Commission rather than store it in the United States. 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. Written comments regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons:

(a)Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission by sending an e-mail to: *David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov,* and

(b)R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget within 30 days of this notice. Dated: September 13, 2004. Margaret H. McFarland, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. E4-2260 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010-01-P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 17a-4(b)(11), SEC File No. 270-449, OMB Control No. 3235-0506. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Sec. 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. Rule 17a-4(b)(11) (17 CFR 240.17a-4(b)(11)) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) describes the record preservation requirements for those records required to be kept pursuant to Rule 17a-3(a)(16) under the Act, including how such records should be kept and for how long, to be used in monitoring compliance with the Commission's financial responsibility program and antifraud and antimanipulative rules as well as other rules and regulations of the Commission and the self-regulatory organizations. It is estimated that approximately 105 active broker-dealer respondents registered with the Commission incur an average burden of 315 hours per year (105 respondents multiplied by 3 burden hours per respondent equals 315 total burden hours) to comply with this rule. Under Rule 17a-4(a)(11) broker-dealers are required to retain records for a period of not less than three years. Compliance with the rule is mandatory. The required records are available only to the examination staff of the Commission and the self-regulatory organization of which the broker-dealer is a member. 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. General comments regarding the estimated burden hours should be directed to the following persons:

(1)The Desk Officer for the Commission, by sending an e-mail to: *David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov;* and

(2)R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget within 30 days of this notice. Dated: September 15, 2004. Margaret H. McFarland, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. E4-2261 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010-01-P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Regulation A (Forms 1-A and 2-A), OMB Control No. 3235-0286, SEC File No. 270-110. 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 request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Regulation A (OMB Control No. 3235-0286; SEC File No. 270-110) provides an exemption from registration under the Securities Act for certain limited securities offerings by issuers who do not otherwise file reports with the Commission. Form 1-A is an offering statement filed under Regulation A. Form 2-A is used to report sales and use of proceeds in Regulation A offerings. All information is provided to the public for review. The information required is filed on occasion and is mandatory. Approximately 165 issuers annually file Forms 1-A and 2-A. It is estimated that Form 1-A takes 608 hours to prepare, Form 2-A takes 12 hours to prepare and Regulation A takes one administrative hour to review for a total of 621 hours per response. The total burden hours are 102,465. It is estimated that 75% of the 102,465 total burden hours (76,849 burden hours) would be prepared by the company. An agency may conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number. Written comments regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons:

(i)Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission: *David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov;* and

(ii)R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. Dated: September 13, 2004. Margaret H. McFarland, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. E4-2262 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010-01-P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 8c-1, SEC File No. 270-455, OMB Control No. 3235-0514. 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 requests for approval of the following rule: Rule 8c-1. Rule 8c-1 generally prohibits a broker-dealer from using its customers' securities as collateral to finance its own trading, speculating, or underwriting transactions. More specifically, the rule states three main principles: first, that a broker-dealer is prohibited from commingling the securities of different customers as collateral for a loan without the consent of each customer; second, that a broker-dealer cannot commingle customers' securities with its own securities under the same pledge; and third, that a broker-dealer can only pledge its customers' securities to the extent that customers are in debt to the broker-dealer. *See* Securities Exchange Act Release No. 2690 (November 15, 1940); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 9428 (December 29, 1971). Pursuant to Rule 8c-1, respondents must collect information necessary to prevent the hypothecation of customer accounts in contravention of the rule, issue and retain copies of notices to the pledgee of hypothecation of customer accounts in accordance with the rule, and collect written consents from customers in accordance with the rule. The information is necessary to ensure compliance with the rule, and to advise customers of the rule's protections. There are approximately 163 respondents per year ( *i.e.,* broker-dealers that conducted business with the public, filed Part II of the FOCUS Report, did not claim an exemption from the Reserve Formula computation, and reported that they had a bank loan during at least one quarter of the current year) that require an aggregate total of 3,668 hours to comply with the rule. Each of these approximately 163 registered broker-dealers makes an estimated 45 annual responses, for an aggregate total of 7,335 responses per year. Each response takes approximately 0.5 hours to complete. Thus, the total compliance burden per year is 3,668 burden hours. The approximate cost per hour is $22, resulting in a total cost of compliance for the respondents of $80,696 (3,668 hours @ $22 per hour). The retention period for the recordkeeping requirement under Rule 8c-1 is three years. The recordkeeping requirement under this Rule is mandatory to ensure that broker-dealers do not commingle their securities or use them to finance the broker-dealers' proprietary business. This rule does not involve the collection of confidential information. Persons should be aware that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a current valid control number. General comments regarding the estimated burden hours should be directed to the following persons:

(1)Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission by sending an e-mail to *David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov* ; and

(2)R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, NW. Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. Dated: September 13, 2004. Margaret H. McFarland, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. E4-2263 Filed 9-20-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010-01-P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 17a-3(a)(16), SEC File No. 270-452, OMB Control No. 3235-0508. Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. sec. 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. Rule 17a-3(a)(16) (17 CFR 240.17a-3(a)(16)) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 identifies the records required to be made by broker-dealers that operate internal broker-dealer systems. Those records are to be used in monitoring compliance with the Commission's financial responsibility program and antifraud and antimanipulative rules, as well as other rules and regulations of the Commission and the self-regulatory organizations. It is estimated that approximately 105 active broker-dealer respondents registered with the Commission incur an average burden of 2,835 hours per year (105 respondents multiplied by 27 burden hours per respondent equals 2,835 total burden hours) to comply with this rule. Rule 17a-3 does not contain record retention requirements. Compliance with the rule is mandatory. The required records are available only to the examination staff of the Commission and the self-regulatory organization of which the broker-dealer is a member. 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. General comments regarding the estimated burden hours should be directed to the following persons:

(1)The Desk Officer for the Commission, by sending an e-mail to: *David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov;* and

(10)and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), (5), (7), 9(ii) and (10), permit consideration of the scheduled matters at the Closed Meeting. Commissioner Goldschmid, as duty officer, voted to consider the items listed for the closed meeting in closed session and determined that earlier notice thereof was possible. The subject matter of the Closed Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 21, 2004 will be: Formal orders of investigations; Institution and settlement of injunctive actions; and Institution and settlement of administrative proceedings of an enforcement nature. At times, changes in Commission priorities require alterations in the scheduling of meeting items. For further information and to ascertain what, if any, matters have been added, deleted or postponed, please contact: The Office of the Secretary at

(202)942-7070. Dated: September 15, 2004. Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary. [FR Doc. 04-21135 Filed 9-15-04; 4:06 pm]

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