Notices. 30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: Extension of a currently approved collection: Police Public Contact Survey
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/register/2008/01/17/08-126A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
BILLING CODE 4410-15-M DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Drug Enforcement Administration Importer of Controlled Substances; Notice of Registration By Notice dated October 19, 2007 and published in the **Federal Register** on October 25, 2007, (72 FR 60693-60695), Research Triangle Institute, Kenneth H. Davis Jr., Hermann Building East Institute Drive, P.O. Box 12194, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, made application by renewal to the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA)to be registered as an importer of the basic classes of controlled substances listed in schedules I and II: Drug Schedule 1-(1-Phenylcyclohexyl)pyrrolidine
(7458)I 1-[1-(2-Thienyl)cyclohexy]piperidine
(7470)I 1-[1-(2-Thienyl)cyclohexyl]pyrrolidine
(7473)I 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxypiperidine
(9661)I 1-(2-Phenylethyl)-4-phenyl-4-acetoxypiperidine
(9663)I 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-(n)-propylthiophenethylamine
(7348)I 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine
(7399)I 2,5-Dimethoxyamphetamine
(7396)I 3,4,5-Trimethoxyamphetamine
(7390)I 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine
(7400)I 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine
(7405)I 3,4-Methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine
(7404)I 3-Methylfentanyl
(9813)I 3-Methylthiofentanyl
(9833)I 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine
(7391)I 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine
(7392)I 4-Methyl-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine
(7395)I 4-Methylaminorex (cis isomer)
(1590)I 4-Methoxyamphetamine
(7411)I 5-Methoxy-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
(7401)I 5-Methoxy-N,N-diisopropyltryptamine
(7439)I Acetorphine
(9319)I Acetyl-alpha-methylfentanyl
(9815)I Acetyldihydrocodeine
(9051)I Acetylmethadol
(9601)I Allylprodine
(9602)I Alphacetylmethadol except levo-alphacetylmethadol
(9603)I Alpha-ethyltryptamine
(7249)I Alphameprodine
(9604)I Alphamethadol
(9605)I Alpha-methylfentanyl
(9814)I Alpha-methylthiofentanyl
(9832)I Alpha-methyltryptamine
(7432)I Aminorex
(1585)I Benzethidine
(9606)I Benzylmorphine
(9052)I Betacetylmethadol
(9607)I Beta-hydroxy-3-methylfentanyl
(9831)I Beta-hydroxyfentanyl
(9830)I Betameprodine
(9608)I Betamethadol
(9609)I Betaprodine
(9611)I Bufotenine
(7433)I Cathinone
(1235)I Clonitazene
(9612)I Codeine methylbromide
(9070)I Codeine-N-Oxide
(9053)I Cyprenorphine
(9054)I Desomorphine
(9055)I Dextromoramide
(9613)I Diampromide
(9615)I Diethylthiambutene
(9616)I Diethyltryptamine
(7434)I Difenoxin
(9168)I Dihydromorphine
(9145)I Dimenoxadol
(9617)I Dimepheptanol
(9618)I Dimethylthiambutene
(9619)I Dimethyltryptamine
(7435)I Dioxaphetyl butyrate
(9621)I Dipipanone
(9622)I Drotebanol
(9335)I Ethylmethylthiambutene
(9623)I Etonitazene
(9624)I Etorphine except HCl
(9056)I Etoxeridine
(9625)I Fenethylline
(1503)I Furethidine
(9626)I Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid
(2010)I Heroin
(9200)I Hydromorphinol
(9301)I Hydroxypethidine
(9627)I Ibogaine
(7260)I Ketobemidone
(9628)I Levomoramide
(9629)I Levophenacylmorphan
(9631)I Lysergic acid diethylamide
(7315)I Marihuana
(7360)I Mecloqualone
(2572)I Mescaline
(7381)I Methaqualone
(2565)I Methcathinone
(1237)I Methyldesorphine
(9302)I Methyldihydromorphine
(9304)I Morpheridine
(9632)I Morphine methylbromide
(9305)I Morphine methylsulfonate
(9306)I Morphine-N-Oxide
(9307)I Myrophine
(9308)I N,N-Dimethylamphetamine
(1480)I N-[1-(2-thienyl)methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide
(9834)I N-[1-benzyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide
(9818)I N-Benzylpiperazine
(7493)I N-Ethyl-3-piperidyl benzilate
(7482)I N-Ethylamphetamine
(1475)I N-Ethyl-1-phencylcyclohexylamine
(7455)I N-Hydroxy-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
(7402)I Nicocodeine
(9309)I Nicomorphine
(9312)I N-Methyl-3-piperidyl benzilate
(7484)I Noracymethadol
(9633)I Norlevorphanol
(9634)I Normethadone
(9635)I Normorphine
(9313)I Norpipanone
(9636)I Para-Fluorofentanyl
(9812)I Parahexyl
(7374)I Peyote
(7415)I Phenadoxone
(9637)I Phenampromide
(9638)I Phenomorphan
(9647)I Phenoperidine
(9641)I Pholcodine
(9314)I Piritramide
(9642)I Proheptazine
(9643)I Properidine
(9644)I Propiram
(9649)I Psilocybin
(7437)I Psilocyn
(7438)I Racemoramide
(9645)I Tetrahydrocannabinols
(7370)I Thebacon
(9315)I Thiofentanyl
(9835)I Thiophene analog of phencyclidine
(7470)I Tilidine
(9750)I Trimeperidine
(9646)I 1-Phenylcyclohexylamine
(7460)II 1-Piperidinocyclohexanecarbonitrile
(8603)II Alfentanil
(9737)II Alphaprodine
(9010)II Amobarbital
(2125)II Amphetamine
(1100)II Anileridine
(9020)II Bezitramide
(9800)II Carfentanil
(9743)II Codeine
(9050)II Dextropropoxyphene, bulk (non-dosage forms)
(9273)II Dihydrocodeine
(9120)II Dihydroetorphine
(9334)II Diphenoxylate
(9170)II Ethylmorphine
(9190)II Etorphine Hcl
(9059)II Fentanyl
(9801)II Glutethimide
(2550)II Hydrocodone
(9193)II Hydromorphone
(9150)II Isomethadone
(9226)II Levo-alphacetylmethadol
(9648)II Levomethorphan
(9210)II Levorphanol
(9220)II Lisdexamfetamine
(1205)II Meperidine
(9230)II Meperidine intermediate—A
(9232)II Meperidine intermediate—B
(9233)II Meperidine intermediate—C
(9234)II Metazocine
(9240)II Methadone
(9250)II Methadone intermediate
(9254)II Methamphetamine
(1105)II Methylphenidate
(1724)II Metopon
(9260)II Moramide intermediate
(9802)II Morphine
(9300)II Nabilone
(7379)II Opium, raw
(9600)II Opium extracts
(9610)II Opium fluid extract
(9620)II Opium tincture
(9630)II Opium, granulated
(9640)II Oxycodone
(9143)II Oxymorphone
(9652)II Pentobarbital
(2270)II Phenazocine
(9715)II Phencyclidine
(7471)II Phenmetrazine
(1631)II Phenylacetone
(8501)II Piminodine
(9730)II Powdered opium
(9639)II Racemethorphan
(9732)II Racemorphan
(9733)II Remifentanil
(9739)II Secobarbital
(2315)II Sufentanil
(9740)II Thebaine
(9333)II The company plans to import small quantities of the listed controlled substances for the National Institute of Drug Abuse
(NIDA)for research activities. No comments or objections have been received. DEA has considered the factors in 21 U.S.C. 823(a) and 952(a) and determined that the registration of Research Triangle Institute to import the basic classes of controlled substances is consistent with the public interest and with United States obligations under international treaties, conventions, or protocols in effect on May 1, 1971, at this time. DEA has investigated Research Triangle Institute to ensure that the company's registration is consistent with the public interest. The investigation has included inspection and testing of the company's physical security systems, verification of the company's compliance with state and local laws, and a review of the company's background and history. Therefore, pursuant to 21 U.S.C. 952(a) and 958(a), and in accordance with 21 CFR 1301.34, the above named company is granted registration as an importer of the basic classes of controlled substances listed. Dated: January 10, 2008. Joseph T. Rannazzisi, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Diversion Control, Drug Enforcement Administration. [FR Doc. E8-771 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-09-P DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Office of Justice Programs [OMB Number 1121-0260] Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested ACTION: 30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: Extension of a currently approved collection: Police Public Contact Survey. The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB)for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. This proposed information collection was previously published in the **Federal Register** Volume 72, Number 208, pages 61184-61185 on October 29, 2007, allowing for a 60 day comment period. The purpose of this notice is to allow for an additional 30 days for public comment until February 19, 2008. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10. Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the items contained in this notice, especially the estimated public burden and associated response time, should be directed to the Office of Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attention Department of Justice Desk Officer, Washington, DC 20503. Additionally, comments may be submitted to OMB via facsimile to
(202)395-5806. Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of the following four points: —Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; —Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; —Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and —Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. Overview of This Information Collection
(1)Type of Information Collection: Extension of a currently approved collection.
(2)Title of the Form/Collection: Police Public Contact Survey.
(3)Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department sponsoring the collection: Not applicable. Survey will be conducted in computer-assisted personal interviewing
(CAPI)environment. Bureau of Justice Statistics, Department of Justice.
(4)Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract: Primary: Eligible respondents to the survey must be age 16 or older. The Police Public Contact Survey fulfills the mandate set forth by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to collect, evaluate, and publish data on the use of excessive force by law enforcement personnel. The survey will be conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey in all sample households for a six
(6)month period. Other: None.
(5)An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond/reply: A total of approximately 74,317 persons will be eligible for the PPCS questions during July through December 2008. Of the 74,317 persons, we expect approximately 80 percent or 59,231 persons will complete a PPCS interview. Of those persons interviewed for the PPCS, we estimate approximately 81.5 percent or 48,272 persons will complete only the first two (contact screener questions) survey questions. The estimated time to read the introductory statement and administer the first two contact screener questions to the respondents is approximately .025 hours (1.5 minutes) per person. Furthermore, we estimate that the remaining 18.5 percent of the interviewed persons or 10,958 persons will report contact with the police. The estimated time required to ask the detailed questions regarding the nature of the contact is estimated to take an average of .167 hours (10 minutes). Respondents will be asked to respond to this survey only once during the six month period.
(6)An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: The total respondent burden is approximately 3,037 hours. If additional information is required contact: Lynn Bryant, Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Patrick Henry Building, Suite 1600, 601 D Street, NW., Washington, DC 20530. Dated: January 11, 2008. Lynn Bryant, Department Clearance Officer, PRA, Department of Justice. [FR Doc. E8-750 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-18-P DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Office of Justice Programs [OMB Number 1121-0197] Bureau of Justice Assistance; Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comments Requested ACTION: 60-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review—Extension of currently approved collection. Bureau of Justice Assistance Application Form: *State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.* The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance, has submitted the following information collection request for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. This proposed information collection is published to obtain comments from the public and affected agencies. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for “sixty days” until March 17, 2008. If you have additional comments, suggestions, or need a copy of the proposed information collection instrument with instructions or additional information, please contact M. Berry at 202-353-8643 or 1-866-859-2687, Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 810 7th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531. Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of information should address one or more of the following four points:
(1)Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the function of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
(2)Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
(3)Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
(4)Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. *Overview of this information:*
(1)Type of information collection: Extension of currently approved collection.
(2)The title of the form/collection: *State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.*
(3)The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the Department sponsoring the collection: Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice.
(4)Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract. *Primary:* States and local units of general government including the 50 state governments, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the more than 3,000 counties and cities with correctional facilities. *Other:* None. *Abstract:* In response to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 Section 130002(b), as amended in 1996, BJA administers the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). SCAAP provides federal payments to States and localities that incurred correctional officer salary costs for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens with at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions for violations of state or local law, and who are incarcerated for at least 4 consecutive days during the designated reporting period and for the following correctional purposes: Salaries for corrections officers Overtime costs Performance based bonuses Corrections work force recruitment and retention Construction of corrections facilities Training/education for offenders Training for corrections officers related to offender population management Consultants involved with offender population Medical and mental health services Vehicle rental/purchase for transport of offenders Prison Industries Pre-release/reentry programs Technology involving offender management/inter-agency information sharing Disaster preparedness continuity of operations for corrections facilities
(5)An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond/reply: It is estimated that no more than 748 respondents will apply. Each application takes approximately 90 minutes to complete and is submitted once per year (annually).
(6)An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: The total hour burden to complete the applications is 1122 hours. 748 × 90 minutes = 67,320/60minutes per hour = 1122 burden hours If additional information is required, contact the Clearance Officer, U.S. Department of Justice, Policy and Planning Staff, Justice Management Division, 601 D Street, NW., Suite 1600, Washington, DC 20530. Dated: January 11, 2008. Lynn Bryant, Department Clearance Officer, PRA, United States Department of Justice. [FR Doc. E8-752 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4410-18-P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employee Benefits Security Administration [Exemption Application Nos. and Grant of Individual Exemptions involving; D-11318, Barclays Global Investors, N.A.,
(BGI)and its Investment Advisory Affiliates, including Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA; together, the Applicants); and D-11417, Citigroup, Inc. (Citigroup)] Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2008-01 AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor. ACTION: Grant of Individual Exemptions. SUMMARY: This document contains exemptions issued by the Department of Labor (the Department) from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). A notice was published in the **Federal Register** of the pendency before the Department of a proposal to grant such exemption. The notice set forth a summary of facts and representations contained in the application for exemption and referred interested persons to the application for a complete statement of the facts and representations. The application has been available for public inspection at the Department in Washington, DC. The notice also invited interested persons to submit comments on the requested exemption to the Department. In addition the notice stated that any interested person might submit a written request that a public hearing be held (where appropriate). The applicant has represented that it has complied with the requirements of the notification to interested persons. No requests for a hearing were received by the Department. Public comments were received by the Department as described in the granted exemption. The notice of proposed exemption was issued and the exemption is being granted solely by the Department because, effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type proposed to the Secretary of Labor. Statutory Findings In accordance with section 408(a) of the Act and/or section 4975(c)(2) of the Code and the procedures set forth in 29 CFR Part 2570, Subpart B (55 FR 32836, 32847, August 10, 1990) and based upon the entire record, the Department makes the following findings:
(a)The exemption is administratively feasible;
(b)The exemption is in the interests of the plan and its participants and beneficiaries; and
(c)The exemption is protective of the rights of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan. Barclays Global Investors, N.A.,
(BGI)and its Investment Advisory Affiliates, including Barclays Global Fund Advisors (BGFA; together, the Applicants) Located in San Francisco, California [Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2008-01; Exemption Application No. D-11318] Exemption Section I. Transactions Involving Open-End Management Investment Companies Other Than Exchange-Traded Funds Effective as of September 10, 2007, the restrictions of sections 406(a) and
(b)of the Act, section 8477(c)(1) and (c)(2) of FERSA, and the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and
(b)of the Code, by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A) through
(F)of the Code, shall not apply to the acquisition, sale or exchange by an Account of shares, including through in-kind redemptions of shares or acquisitions of shares in exchange for Account assets transferred in-kind from an Account, of an open-end investment company (“the Fund”) registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act), other than an exchange-traded fund (an “ETF”), the Investment Adviser for which is also a fiduciary with respect to the Account (or an affiliate of such fiduciary) (hereinafter, BGI and all its affiliates will be referred to as “Investment Adviser”), and the receipt of fees for acting as an investment adviser for such Funds, as well as fees for providing other services to the Funds which are “Secondary Services,” as defined herein, in connection with the investment by the Accounts in shares of the Funds, provided that the conditions set forth in Section II are met. Section II. Conditions
(a)The Account does not pay a sales commission or other similar fees to the Investment Adviser or its affiliates in connection with such acquisition, sale, or exchange.
(b)The Account does not pay a redemption or similar fee to the Investment Adviser in connection with the sale by the Account to the Fund of such shares, and the existence of any other redemption fee is disclosed in the Fund's prospectus in effect at all times.
(c)The Account does not pay an investment management, investment advisory or similar fee with respect to Account assets invested in Fund shares for the entire period of such investment. This condition does not preclude the payment of investment advisory fees by the Fund under the terms of its investment advisory agreement adopted in accordance with section 15 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act). This condition also does not preclude payment of an investment advisory fee by the Account under the following circumstances:
(1)For Accounts billed in arrears, an investment advisory fee may be paid based on total Account assets from which a credit has been subtracted representing the Account's pro rata share of investment advisory fees paid by the Fund;
(2)For Accounts billed in advance, the Investment Adviser must employ a reasonably designed method to ensure that the amount of the prepaid fee that constitutes the fee with respect to the Account assets invested in the Fund shares:
(A)Is anticipated and subtracted from the prepaid fee at the time of payment of such fee,
(B)Is returned to the Account no later than during the immediately following fee period or
(C)Is offset against the prepaid fee for the immediately following fee period or for the fee period immediately following thereafter. For purposes of this paragraph, a fee shall be deemed to be prepaid for any fee period if the amount of such fee is calculated as of a date not later than the first day of such period; or
(3)An investment advisory fee may be paid based on total plan assets if the Account will receive a cash rebate of such Account's proportionate share of all fees charged to the Fund by the Investment Adviser for investment management, investment advisory or similar services no later than one business day after the receipt of such fees by the Investment Adviser.
(d)The rebating, crediting, or offsetting of any fees in paragraph
(c)is audited at least annually by the Investment Adviser through a system of internal controls to verify the accuracy of the fee mechanism adopted by the Investment Adviser under paragraph (c).
(e)The combined total of all fees received by the Investment Adviser for the provision of services to an Account, and for the provision of any services to a Fund in which an Account may invest, is not in excess of “reasonable compensation” within the meaning of section 408(b)(2) of the Act;
(f)The Investment Adviser and its affiliates do not receive any fees payable pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the 1940 Act in connection with the transactions covered by this exemption;
(g)In advance of any initial investment in a Fund by a Separately Managed Account or by a new Plan investor in a Pooled Fund, a Second Fiduciary with respect to that Plan, who is independent of and unrelated to the Investment Adviser or any affiliate thereof, receives in written or in electronic form, full and detailed written disclosure of information concerning such Fund(s). The disclosure described in this paragraph
(g)includes, but is not limited to:
(1)A current prospectus issued by each of the Fund(s);
(2)A statement describing the fees for investment advisory or similar services, any Secondary Services, and all other fees to be charged to or paid by the Account and by the Fund(s), including the nature and extent of any differential between the rates of such fees;
(3)The reasons why the Investment Adviser may consider such investment to be appropriate for the Account;
(4)A statement describing whether there are any limitations applicable to the Investment Adviser with respect to which Account assets may be invested in shares of the Fund(s) and, if so, the nature of such limitations, and
(5)A copy of the proposed exemption and this final exemption, and any other reasonably available information regarding the transaction described herein that the Second Fiduciary requests.
(h)After receipt and consideration of the information referenced in paragraph (g), the Second Fiduciary of the Separately Managed Account or the new Plan investing in a Pooled Fund approves in writing the investment of Plan assets in each particular Fund and the fees to be paid by a Fund to the Investment Adviser. (i)(1) In the case of existing Plan investors in a Pooled Fund, such Pooled Fund may not engage in any covered transactions pursuant to this exemption, unless the Second Fiduciary receives in written or in electronic form, the information described in paragraph
(2)of this paragraph
(i)not less than 30 days prior to the Investment Adviser's engaging in the covered transactions on behalf of the Pooled Fund pursuant to this exemption.
(2)The information required by paragraph
(1)of this section includes:
(A)A notice of the Pooled Fund's intent to engage in the covered transactions described herein, a copy of the notice of proposed exemption, and a copy of this final exemption;
(B)Any other reasonably available information regarding the covered transactions that a Second Fiduciary requests; and
(C)A Termination Form, within the meaning of paragraph (j). Approval to engage in any covered transactions pursuant to this exemption may be presumed notwithstanding that the Investment Adviser does not receive any response from a Second Fiduciary.
(j)All authorizations made by a Second Fiduciary regarding investments in a Fund and the fees paid to the Investment Adviser will be subject to an annual reauthorization wherein any such prior authorization shall be terminable at will by an Account, without penalty to the Account, upon receipt by the Investment Adviser of written notice of termination. A form expressly providing an election to terminate the authorization (“Termination Form”) with instructions on the use of the form will be supplied to the Second Fiduciary no less than annually, in written or in electronic form. The instructions for the Termination Form will include the following information:
(1)The authorization is terminable at will by the Account, without penalty to the Account, upon receipt by the Investment Adviser of written notice from the Second Fiduciary. Such termination will be effected by the Investment Adviser by selling the shares of the Fund held by the affected Account within one business day following receipt by the Investment Adviser of the Termination Form or any other written notice of termination; provided that if, due to circumstances beyond the control of the Investment Adviser, the sale cannot be executed within one business day, the Investment Adviser shall have one additional business day to complete such sale; and provided further that, where a Plan's interest in a Pooled Fund cannot be sold within this timeframe, the Plan's interest will be sold as soon as administratively practicable;
(2)Failure of the Second Fiduciary to return the Termination Form will result in continued authorization of the Investment Adviser to engage in the covered transactions on behalf of an Account; and
(3)The identity of BGI, the asset management affiliate of BGI, and the affiliated investment advisers, and the address of the asset management affiliate of BGI. The instructions will state that this exemption is not available, unless the fiduciary of each Plan participating in the covered transactions as an investor in a Pooled Fund is, in fact, independent of the Investment Adviser. The instructions will also state that the fiduciary of each such Plan must advise the asset management affiliate of BGI, in writing, if it is not a “Second Fiduciary,” as that term is defined, below, in Section V(l). However, if the Termination Form has been provided to the Second Fiduciary pursuant to this paragraph or paragraphs (i), (k), or (l), the Termination Form need not be provided again for an annual reauthorization pursuant to this paragraph unless at least six months has elapsed since the form was previously provided.
(k)In situations where the Fund-level fee is neither rebated nor credited against the Account-level fee, the Second Fiduciary of each Account invested in a particular Fund will receive full disclosure, in written or in electronic form, in a statement, which is separate from the Fund prospectus, of any proposed increases in the rates of fees for investment advisory or similar services, and any Secondary Services, at least 30 days prior to the implementation of such increase in fees, accompanied by a Termination Form. In situations where the Fund-level fee is rebated or credited against the Account-level fee, the Second Fiduciary will receive full disclosure, in a Fund prospectus or otherwise, in the same time and manner set forth above, of any increases in the rates of fees to be charged by the Investment Adviser to the Fund for investment advisory services. Failure to return the Termination Form will be deemed an approval of the increase and will result in the continued authorization of the Investment Adviser to engage in the covered transactions on behalf of an Account.
(l)In the event that the Investment Adviser provides an additional Secondary Service to a Fund for which a fee is charged or there is an increase in the rate of any fees paid by the Funds to the Investment Adviser for any Secondary Services resulting from either an increase in the rate of such fee or from a decrease in the number or kind of services provided by the Investment Adviser for such fees over an existing rate for such Secondary Service in connection with a previously authorized Secondary Service, the Second Fiduciary will receive notice, at least 30 days in advance of the implementation of such additional service or fee increase, in written or in electronic form, explaining the nature and the amount of such services or of the effective increase in fees of the affected Fund. Such notice shall be accompanied by a Termination Form. Failure to return the Termination Form will be deemed an approval of the Secondary Service and will result in continued authorization of the Investment Adviser to engage in the covered transactions on behalf of the Account.
(m)On an annual basis, the Second Fiduciary of an Account investing in a Fund, will receive, in written or in electronic form:
(1)A copy of the current prospectus for the Fund and, upon such fiduciary's request, a copy of the Statement of Additional Information for such Fund, which contains a description of all fees paid by the Fund to the Investment Adviser;
(2)A copy of the annual financial disclosure report of the Fund in which such Account is invested, which includes information about the Fund portfolios as well as audit findings of an independent auditor of the Fund, within 60 days of the preparation of the report; and
(3)With respect to each of the Funds in which an Account invests, in the event such Fund places brokerage transactions with the Investment Adviser, the Investment Adviser will provide the Second Fiduciary of such Account, in the same manner described above, at least annually with a statement specifying the following (and responses to oral or written inquiries of the Second Fiduciary as they arise):
(A)The total, expressed in dollars, brokerage commissions of each Fund's investment portfolio that are paid to the Investment Adviser by such Fund;
(B)The total, expressed in dollars, of brokerage commissions of each Fund's investment portfolio that are paid by such Fund to brokerage firms unrelated to the Investment Adviser;
(C)The average brokerage commissions per share, expressed as cents per share, paid to the Investment Adviser by each portfolio of a Fund; and
(D)The average brokerage commissions per share, expressed as cents per share, paid by each portfolio of a Fund to brokerage firms unrelated to the Investment Adviser.
(n)In all instances in which the Investment Adviser provides electronic distribution of information to Second Fiduciaries who have provided electronic mail addresses, such electronic disclosure will be provided in a manner similar to the procedures described in 29 CFR section 2520.104b-1(c).
(o)Any Separately Managed Account does not hold assets of a Plan sponsored by the Investment Adviser or an affiliate. If a Pooled Fund holds assets of a Plan or Plans sponsored by the Investment Adviser or an affiliate, the total assets of all such Plans shall not exceed 15% of the total assets of such Pooled Fund.
(p)In-kind transactions with an Account shall only involve publicly-traded securities for which market quotations are readily available, as determined pursuant to procedures established by the Funds under Rule 2a-4 of the 1940 Act, and cash in the event that the aforementioned securities are odd lot securities, fractional shares, or accruals on such securities. Such securities will not include:
(1)Securities that, if publicly offered or sold, would require registration under the Securities Act of 1933;
(2)Securities issued by entities in countries that
(i)restrict or prohibit the holding of securities by non-nationals other than through qualified investment vehicles, such as the Funds, or
(ii)permit transfers of ownership of securities to be effected only by transactions conducted on a local stock exchange;
(3)Certain portfolio positions (such as forward foreign currency contracts, futures and options contracts, swap transactions, certificates of deposit and repurchase agreements), that, although liquid and marketable, involve the assumption of contractual obligations, require special trading facilities, or can be traded only with the counter-party to the transaction to effect a change in beneficial ownership;
(4)Cash equivalents (such as certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and repurchase agreements);
(5)Other assets that are not readily distributable (including receivables and prepaid expenses), net of all liabilities (including accounts payable); and
(6)Securities subject to “stop transfer” instructions or similar contractual restrictions on transfer.
(q)Subject to the exceptions described in section
(p)above, in the case of an in-kind exchange of assets [in-kind redemptions and in-kind transfers of Plan assets] between an Account and a Fund (other than an ETF), the Account will receive its pro rata portion of the securities of the Fund equal in value to that of the number of shares redeemed, or the Fund shares having a total net asset value
(NAV)equal to the value of the assets transferred on the date of the transfer, as determined in a single valuation, using sources independent of the Investment Adviser, performed in the same manner as it would for any other person or entity at the close of the same business day in accordance with the procedures established by the Fund pursuant to Rule 2a-4 under the 1940 Act, and the then-existing valuation procedures established by its Board of Directors or Trustees, as applicable for the valuation of such assets, that are in compliance with the rules administered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). In the case of a redemption, the value of the securities and any cash received by the Account for each redeemed Fund share equals the NAV of such share at the time of the transaction. In the case of any other in-kind exchange, the value of the Fund shares received by the Account equals the NAV of the transferred securities and any cash on the date of the transfer.
(r)The Investment Adviser shall provide the Second Fiduciary with a written confirmation containing information necessary to perform a post-transaction review of any in-kind transaction so that the material aspects of such transaction, including pricing, can be reviewed. Such information must be furnished no later than thirty
(30)business days after the completion of the in-kind transaction. In the case of a Pooled Fund, the Investment Adviser can satisfy the requirement with a single aggregate report furnished to the Second Fiduciary containing the required information for each in-kind transaction taking place during a month. This aggregate report must be furnished to the Second Fiduciary no later than thirty
(30)business days after the end of that month. The information to be provided pursuant to this Section II(r) shall include:
(1)With respect to securities either transferred by, or received, by an Account in-kind in exchange for Fund shares,
(i)the identity of each security either received by the Account pursuant to the redemption, or transferred to the Fund by the Account, (and the related aggregate dollar value of all securities) determined in accordance with Rule 2a-4 under the 1940 Act and the then-existing procedures established by the Board of Trustees of the Fund (using sources independent of the Investment Adviser); and
(ii)the current market price of each security transferred or received in-kind by the Account as of the date of the in-kind transfer.
(2)With respect to Fund shares either transferred by, or received by, an Account in-kind in exchange for securities,
(i)the number of Fund shares held by the Account immediately before the redemption (and the related per share net asset value and the total dollar value of Fund shares, determined in accordance with Rule 2a-4 under the 1940 Act, using sources independent of the Investment Adviser); or
(ii)the number of Fund shares held by the Account immediately after the in-kind transfer (and the related per share net asset value of the Fund shares received and the total dollar value of Fund shares, determined in accordance with Rule 2a-4 under the 1940 Act using sources independent of the Investment Adviser).
(3)The identity of each pricing service or market-maker consulted in determining the value of the securities.
(s)Prior to the consummation of an in-kind transaction, the Investment Adviser must document in writing and determine that such transaction is fair to the Account and comparable to, and no less favorable than, terms obtainable at arm's-length between unaffiliated parties, and that the in-kind transaction is in the best interests of the Account and the participants and beneficiaries of the participating Plans.
(t)All of the Accounts' other dealings with the Funds, the Investment Adviser, or any affiliated person thereof, are on terms that are no less favorable to the Account than such dealings are with other shareholders of the Funds.
(u)BGI and its affiliates, as applicable, maintain, or cause to be maintained, for a period of six
(6)years from the date of any covered transaction such records as are necessary to enable the persons, described, below, in Section II(v), to determine whether the conditions of this exemption have been met, except that—
(1)No party in interest with respect to a Plan which engages in the covered transactions, other than BGI, and its affiliates, as applicable, shall be subject to a civil penalty under section 502(i) of the Act or the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and
(b)of the Code, if such records are not maintained, or not available for examination, as required, below, by Section II(v); and
(2)A separate prohibited transaction shall not be considered to have occurred solely because due to circumstances beyond the control of BGI or its affiliate, as applicable, such records are lost or destroyed prior to the end of the six-year period. (v)(1) Except as provided, below, in Section II(v)(2), and notwithstanding any provisions of subsections (a)(2) and
(b)of section 504 of the Act, the records referred to, above, in Section II(t) are unconditionally available at their customary location for examination during normal business hours by—
(i)Any duly authorized employee or representative of the Department, the Internal Revenue Service, or the SEC; or
(ii)Any fiduciary of any Plan that engages in the covered transactions, or any duly authorized employee or representative of such fiduciary; or
(iii)Any employer of participants and beneficiaries and any employee organization whose members are covered by a Plan that engages in the covered transactions, or any authorized employee or representative of these entities; or
(iv)Any participant or beneficiary of a Plan that engages in the covered transactions, or duly authorized employee or representative of such participant or beneficiary;
(2)None of the persons described, above, in Section II(v)(1)(ii)—(iv) shall be authorized to examine trade secrets of the Investment Adviser, or commercial or financial information which is privileged or confidential; and
(3)Should the Investment Adviser refuse to disclose information on the basis that such information is exempt from disclosure, the Investment Adviser shall, by the close of the thirtieth
(30th)day following the request, provide a written notice advising that person of the reasons for the refusal and that the Department may request such information. Section III. Transactions Involving Exchange-Traded Funds Effective as of September 10, 2007, the restrictions of sections 406(a) and
(b)of the Act, section 8477(c)(1) and (c)(2) of FERSA, and the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and
(b)of the Code, by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A) through
(F)of the Code, shall not apply to the following transactions involving an Account and an ETF, the Investment Adviser for which is also a fiduciary with respect to the Account (or an affiliate of such fiduciary) (i.e., “Investment Adviser”), and the receipt of fees for acting as an investment adviser for such ETF, as well as fees for providing other services to the ETF which are “Secondary Services,” as defined herein, in connection with the investment by the Account in shares of the ETF, provided that the conditions set forth in Section IV are met:
(a)The acquisition, sale or exchange by an Account of ETF shares, including through in-kind exchanges, in a principal transaction with a broker-dealer not an affiliate of the Investment Adviser, registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including an Authorized Participant.
(b)The acquisition or sale by an Account of ETF shares on a national securities exchange when a broker-dealer not an affiliate of the Investment Adviser, registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including an Authorized Participant, acts as agent for the Account.
(c)The acquisition, sale or exchange by an Account of ETF shares, including through in-kind exchanges, through an Authorized Participant, acting as an agent dealing directly with the ETF, and the Account is exchanging securities and/or cash for the ETF shares during a Creation process, or exchanging ETF shares for securities and/or cash during a Redemption process. Section IV. Conditions (a)(1) In the case of a principal transaction described in Section III(a), the specific terms of the transaction are fixed at the time the Account agrees to exchange the in-kind assets with the broker-dealer.
(2)In the case of a transaction described in Section III(c), the value of the securities transferred to the ETF, in exchange for ETF shares issued at the closing ETF NAV at the end of the business day, and the value of the securities received from the ETF, in exchange for ETF shares redeemed at the closing ETF NAV at the end of the business day is:
(A)Determined pursuant to a single valuation using sources independent of the Investment Adviser; and
(B)Performed in the same manner as it would for any other person or entity at the end of the same business day. Such valuation is made in accordance with procedures established by the ETF pursuant to Rule 2a-4 under the 1940 Act, and the then existing valuation procedures established by its Board of Directors or Trustees, as applicable, that are in compliance with the rules administered by the SEC. In the case of a redemption, the value of the securities and any cash received by the Account for each redeemed ETF share equals the NAV of such share at the time of the transaction. In the case of any other in-kind exchange, the value of the ETF shares received by the Account equals the NAV of the transferred securities and any cash on the date of the transfer.
(b)All ETFs are either Index Funds or Model-Driven Funds.
(c)The Authorized Participant is not an affiliate of the Investment Adviser.
(d)Conditions
(a)through (p), and
(r)through
(v)of Section II have been met. For purposes of this Section IV(d), the term “Fund” in Section II includes an ETF. Section V. Definitions
(a)The term “Account” means either a Separately Managed Account or a Pooled Fund in which investments are made by plans described in section 3(3) of the Act and/or section 4975(e)(1) of the Code and a plan covered by The Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986 (FERSA).
(b)An “affiliate” of a person includes any person directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the person; any officer of, director of, highly compensated employee (within the meaning of Code section 4975(e)(2)(H)) of, or partner in any such person; and any corporation or partnership of which such person is an officer, director, partner or owner, or highly compensated employee (within the meaning of Code section 4975(e)(2)(H)).
(c)The term “control” means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a person other than an individual.
(d)The term “Authorized Participant” means a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which may acquire or redeem ETF Shares directly from ETFs. Such Authorized Participant is not an affiliate of the Investment Adviser.
(e)The term “Fund” means any open end investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, including exchange-traded funds.
(f)The term “Index” means a securities index that represents the investment performance of a specific segment of the public market for equity or debt securities in the United States and/or foreign countries, but only if—
(1)The organization creating and maintaining the index is—
(A)Engaged in the business of providing financial information, evaluation, advice or securities brokerage services to institutional clients;
(B)A publisher of financial news or information;
(C)A public securities exchange or association of securities dealers; and,
(2)The index is created and maintained by an organization independent of the Applicants and their affiliates; and,
(3)The index is a generally accepted standardized index of securities which is not specifically tailored for the use of the Applicants.
(g)The term “Index Fund” means any investment fund, sponsored, maintained, trusteed or managed by the Applicants, in which one or more investors invest, and—
(1)Which is designed to track the rate of return, risk profile, and other characteristics of an independently maintained securities index by either
(i)replicating the same combination of securities that compose such index, or
(ii)sampling the securities that compose such index based on objective criteria and data;
(2)For which the Applicants do not use their discretion, or data within their control, to affect the identity or amount of securities to be purchased or sold; and
(3)That involves no agreement, arrangement or understanding regarding the design or operation of the Fund which is intended to benefit the Applicants, their affiliates, or any party in which the Applicants or their affiliates have an interest.
(h)The term “Investment Adviser” means Barclays Global Investors, N.A. or any of its current or future affiliates.
(i)The term “Model-Driven Fund” means any investment fund, sponsored, maintained, trusteed or managed by the Applicants, in which one or more investors invest, and—
(1)Which is composed of securities the identity of which and the amount of which are selected by a computer model that is based on prescribed objective criteria using independent third party data not within the control of the Applicants, to transform an index (as defined in (f), above); and
(2)That involves no agreement, arrangement or understanding regarding the design or operation of the fund or the utilization of any specific objective criteria which is intended to benefit the Applicants, their affiliates, or any party in which the Applicants or their affiliates may have an interest.
(j)The term “Plan” means a plan described in section 3(3) of the Act, a plan described in section 4975(e)(1) of the Code, and a plan covered by FERSA.
(k)The term “Pooled Fund” means any commingled fund sponsored, maintained, advised or trusteed by the Investment Adviser, which fund holds Plan assets.
(l)The term “Second Fiduciary” means a fiduciary of a Plan who is independent of and unrelated to the Investment Adviser. For purposes of this exemption, the Second Fiduciary will not be deemed to be independent of and unrelated to the Investment Adviser if:
(1)Such fiduciary directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Investment Adviser;
(2)Such fiduciary, or any officer, director, partner, or employee of the fiduciary is an officer, director, partner, employee or affiliate of the Investment Adviser; or
(3)Such fiduciary directly or indirect receives any compensation or other consideration for his or her own personal account in connection with any transaction described in this exemption. If an officer, director, partner, affiliate or employee of the Investment Adviser is a director of such Second Fiduciary, and if he or she abstains from participation in
(A)the choice of the Plan's investment adviser,
(B)the approval for the acquisition, sale, holding, and/or exchange of Fund shares by such Plan, and
(C)the approval of any change in fees charged to or paid by the Plan in connection with any of the transactions described herein, then subparagraph
(2)above shall not apply.
(m)The term “Secondary Service” means a service other than an investment management, investment advisory or similar service which is provided by the Investment Adviser to the Funds, including but not limited to custodial, accounting, brokerage, administrative or any other similar service.
(n)The term “Separately Managed Account” means any Account other than a Pooled Fund, and includes single-employer Plans.
(o)The term “Creation” or “Redemption” refers to a transaction where the ETF is the buyer or seller of large-blocks of ETF shares. For a more complete statement of the facts and representations supporting the Department's decision to grant this exemption, refer to the notice of proposed exemption (the Notice) published on September 10, 2007 at 72 FR 51668. *Effective Date:* This exemption is effective as of September 10, 2007. *Written Comments:* The Department received one comment with respect to the Notice, which was filed by the Applicants. The Applicants addressed three points in the Notice in their comment letter. The Applicants' commentary, a discussion of the Department's views in response thereto and the modifications to the proposed exemption are discussed below. The Applicants noted that Section II(r) of the Notice requires the delivery of certain information to all investors in a Pooled Fund. The provision is also required for transactions described in Section III of the Notice relating to ETF shares. Section II(r) of the Notice requires that such information be furnished to the Second Fiduciary no later than thirty
(30)business days after the completion of the in-kind transaction. While the Applicants do not object to the requirement for Separately Managed Accounts, they stated in their comment letter that they considered the requirement to be unduly burdensome for investors in Pooled Funds. The Department has considered this comment and has amended Section II(r) to clarify that the Applicants, with respect to Pooled Funds, can satisfy the requirement with a single aggregate report furnished to the Second Fiduciary containing the required information for each in-kind transaction taking place during a month. This aggregate report must be furnished to the Second Fiduciary no later than thirty
(30)business days after the end of that month. The Applicants also noted that several conditions of the Notice, including Sections II(g), II(i), II(j), II(l), II(m) and II(n) provide for written or electronic disclosure. The Applicants sought clarification from the Department that the electronic disclosure may encompass a combination of written or e-mail communication coupled with Web site links, with paper copies to be supplied upon request. The Applicants stated that the required communications would consist of large documents, and that e-mails with large attachments are often stopped at firewalls and cannot be readily accessed in a cost efficient manner. In addition, the Applicants stated that paper copies of all these reports are expensive, cumbersome and unwelcome from a client's perspective because it is more difficult to share the information with others in the organization. The Department understands the concerns about electronically transmitting a voluminous document as an attachment to an e-mail. Accordingly, in such circumstances, the electronic communication of the information required by the Notice may otherwise be provided by means of an e-mail with an embedded link to the required disclosure, provided:
(1)The e-mail clearly describes both the information required to be disclosed and its significance;
(2)The activation of the embedded link in the e-mail takes the reader directly to the relevant document that is stored on the applicable Web site without any further required action by the reader; and
(3)The document remains on the Web site for a reasonable period of time after appropriate and necessary measures are taken to ensure the Second Fiduciary's actual receipt of the e-mail. It is the Department's view that no changes to the operative language of the Notice, with respect to this issue, are necessary in view of the guidance provided herein. The Applicants' final comment with respect to the Notice related to Section II(o), which provided, in part, that if a Pooled Fund holds assets of a Plan or Plans sponsored by the Investment Adviser or an affiliate, the total assets of all such Plans shall not exceed 10% of the total assets of such Pooled Fund. The Applicants commented that they believed that this condition was unduly restrictive. The Department has considered the comment and determined that the appropriate limitation is 15% of the total assets of such Pooled Fund. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gary H. Lefkowitz of the Department, telephone
(202)693-8546. (This is not a toll-free number.) Citigroup, Inc. (Citigroup) Located in New York, New York [Prohibited Transaction Exemption No. 2008-02; Exemption Application No. D-11417] Exemption Section I. Covered Transactions The restrictions of sections 406(a)(1)(D) and 406(b) of ERISA and the sanctions resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Code, including the loss of exemption of an IRA pursuant to section 408(e)(2)(A) of the Code, by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(D),
(E)and
(F)of the Code, shall not apply to the receipt of services at reduced or no cost by an individual for whose benefit an IRA or, if self-employed, a Keogh Plan, is established or maintained, or by members of his or her family, from Citigroup pursuant to an arrangement in which the account value of, or the fees incurred for services provided to, the IRA or Keogh Plan is taken into account for purposes of determining eligibility to receive such services, provided that each condition of Section II of this exemption is satisfied. Section II. Conditions
(a)The IRA or Keogh Plan whose account value, or whose fees paid, are taken into account for purposes of determining eligibility to receive services under the arrangement must be established and maintained for the exclusive benefit of the participant covered under the IRA or Keogh Plan, his or her spouse or their beneficiaries.
(b)The services offered under the arrangement must be of a type that a qualified affiliate could offer consistent with all applicable federal and state banking laws and all applicable federal and state laws regulating broker-dealers.
(c)The services offered under the arrangement must be provided by a qualified affiliate in the ordinary course of its business as a bank or a broker-dealer to customers who qualify for reduced or no cost services, but do not maintain IRAs or Keogh Plans with a qualified affiliate.
(d)For the purpose of determining eligibility to receive services, the arrangement satisfies:
(i)Eligibility requirements based on the account value of the IRA or Keogh Plan are as favorable as any such requirement based on the value of any other type of account which the qualified affiliate includes to determine eligibility; and/or
(ii)Eligibility requirements based on the amount of fees incurred by the IRA or Keogh Plan, are as favorable as any requirements based on the amount of fees incurred by any other type of account which the qualified affiliate includes to determine eligibility.
(e)The combined total of all fees for the provision of services to the IRA or Keogh Plan is not in excess of reasonable compensation within the meaning of section 408(b)(2) of ERISA and section 4975(d)(2) of the Code.
(f)The investment performance of the investments made by the IRAs and/or Keogh Plans is no less favorable than the investment performance of identical investments that could have been made at the same time by a customer of Citigroup who is not eligible for (or who does not receive) reduced or no cost services.
(g)The services offered under the arrangement to the IRA or Keogh Plan customer must be the same as are offered to non-IRA or non-Keogh Plan customers of qualified affiliates with account values of the same amount or the same amount of fees generated. Section III. Definitions The following definitions apply to this exemption:
(a)The term “bank” means a bank described in section 408(n) of the Code.
(b)The term “broker-dealer” means a broker-dealer registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
(c)The term “IRA” means an individual retirement account described in Code section 408(a), an individual retirement annuity described in Code section 408(b) or a Coverdell education savings account described in section 530 of the Code. For purposes of this exemption, the term IRA shall not include an IRA which is an employee benefit plan covered by Title I of ERISA, except for a Simplified Employee Pension
(SEP)described in section 408(k) of the Code or a Simple Retirement Account described in section 408(p) of the Code which provides participants with the unrestricted authority to transfer their balances to IRAs or Simple Retirement Accounts sponsored by different financial institutions.
(d)The term “Keogh Plan” means a pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plan qualified under Code section 401(a) and exempt from taxation under Code section 501(a) under which some or all of the participants are employees described in section 401(c) of the Code. For purposes of this exemption, the term Keogh Plan shall not include a Keogh Plan which is an employee benefit plan covered by Title I of ERISA.
(e)The term “account value” means investments in cash or securities held in the account for which market quotations are readily available. For purposes of this exemption, the term cash shall include savings accounts that are insured by a federal deposit insurance agency and constitute deposits as that term is defined in 29 CFR 2550.408b-4(c)(3). The term account value shall not include investments that are offered by Citigroup (or a qualified affiliate) exclusively to IRAs and Keogh Plans.
(f)The term “qualified affiliate” means any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with Citigroup Inc. that is a bank or broker-dealer.
(g)The term “members of his or her family” refers to beneficiaries of the individual for whose benefit the IRA or Keogh Plan is established or maintained, who would be members of the family as that term is defined in Code section 4975(e)(6), or a brother, a sister, or a spouse of a brother or sister.
(h)The term “service” includes incidental products of a de minimis value which are directly related to the provision of services covered by the exemption.
(i)The term “fees” means commissions and other fees received by a broker-dealer from the IRA or Keogh Plan for the provision of services, including, but not limited to, brokerage commissions, investments management fees, investments advisory fees, custodial fees and administrative fees.
(j)The term “Citigroup” means Citigroup Inc. and any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with Citigroup Inc.
(k)The term “control” means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a person other than an individual. *Effective Date:* The exemption is effective as of March 1, 2007. For a more complete statement of the facts and representations supporting the Department's decision to grant this exemption refer to the Notice of Proposed Exemption published on October 26, 2007, at 72 FR 60905. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Allison Padams-Lavigne, U.S. Department of Labor, telephone
(202)693-8564. (This is not a toll-free number.) General Information The attention of interested persons is directed to the following:
(1)The fact that a transaction is the subject of an exemption under section 408(a) of the Act and/or section 4975(c)(2) of the Code does not relieve a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person from certain other provisions to which the exemption does not apply and the general fiduciary responsibility provisions of section 404 of the Act, which among other things require a fiduciary to discharge his duties respecting the plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan and in a prudent fashion in accordance with section 404(a)(1)(B) of the Act; nor does it affect the requirement of section 401(a) of the Code that the plan must operate for the exclusive benefit of the employees of the employer maintaining the plan and their beneficiaries;
(2)This exemption is supplemental to and not in derogation of, any other provisions of the Act and/or the Code, including statutory or administrative exemptions and transactional rules. Furthermore, the fact that a transaction is subject to an administrative or statutory exemption is not dispositive of whether the transaction is in fact a prohibited transaction; and
(3)The availability of this exemption is subject to the express condition that the material facts and representations contained in the application accurately describes all material terms of the transaction which is the subject of the exemption. Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of January, 2008. Ivan Strasfeld, Director of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor. [FR Doc. E8-800 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510-29-P DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employee Benefits Security Administration Application Nos. and Proposed Exemptions; D-11421, Toeruna Widge IRA (the IRA); and D-11434, Credit Suisse
(CS)and Its Current and Future Affiliates (Collectively the Applicant) AGENCY: Employee Benefits Security Administration, Labor. ACTION: Notice of Proposed Exemptions. SUMMARY: This document contains notices of pendency before the Department of Labor (the Department) of proposed exemptions from certain of the prohibited transaction restrictions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA or the Act) and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code). Written Comments and Hearing Requests All interested persons are invited to submit written comments or requests for a hearing on the pending exemptions, unless otherwise stated in the Notice of Proposed Exemption, within 45 days from the date of publication of this **Federal Register** Notice. Comments and requests for a hearing should state:
(1)The name, address, and telephone number of the person making the comment or request, and
(2)the nature of the person's interest in the exemption and the manner in which the person would be adversely affected by the exemption. A request for a hearing must also state the issues to be addressed and include a general description of the evidence to be presented at the hearing. ADDRESSES: All written comments and requests for a hearing (at least three copies) should be sent to the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Office of Exemption Determinations, Room N-5700, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Attention: Application No. ___, stated in each Notice of Proposed Exemption. Interested persons are also invited to submit comments and/or hearing requests to EBSA via e-mail or FAX. Any such comments or requests should be sent either by e-mail to: *moffitt.betty@dol.gov* , or by FAX to
(202)219-0204 by the end of the scheduled comment period. The applications for exemption and the comments received will be available for public inspection in the Public Documents Room of the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-1513, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210. Notice to Interested Persons Notice of the proposed exemptions will be provided to all interested persons in the manner agreed upon by the applicant and the Department within 15 days of the date of publication in the **Federal Register** . Such notice shall include a copy of the notice of proposed exemption as published in the **Federal Register** and shall inform interested persons of their right to comment and to request a hearing (where appropriate). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed exemptions were requested in applications filed pursuant to section 408(a) of the Act and/or section 4975(c)(2) of the Code, and in accordance with procedures set forth in 29 CFR Part 2570, Subpart B (55 FR 32836, 32847, August 10, 1990). Effective December 31, 1978, section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978, 5 U.S.C. App. 1 (1996), transferred the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury to issue exemptions of the type requested to the Secretary of Labor. Therefore, these notices of proposed exemption are issued solely by the Department. The applications contain representations with regard to the proposed exemptions which are summarized below. Interested persons are referred to the applications on file with the Department for a complete statement of the facts and representations. Toeruna Widge IRA (the IRA) Located in Mertztown, Pennsylvania [Application No. D-11421] Proposed Exemption The Department is considering granting an exemption under the authority of section 4975(c)(2) of the Code and in accordance with the procedures set forth in 29 CFR Part 2570, subpart B (55 FR 32836, August 10, 1990). If the exemption is granted, the sanctions resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Code, by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A) through
(E)of the Code, shall not apply to the sale (the Sale) of approximately 59.99 acres of unimproved real property located at Fredericksville Road and Sweitzer Road, Rockland Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania (the Property) by the IRA to Dr. Toeruna Widge (the Applicant), a disqualified person with respect to the IRA, 1 provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
(A)All terms and conditions of the Sale are at least as favorable to the IRA as those which the IRA could obtain in an arm's-length transaction with an unrelated party; 1 Pursuant to 29 CFR 2510.3-2(d), the IRA is not within the jurisdiction of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (the Act). However, there is jurisdiction under Title II of the Act pursuant to section 4975 of the Code.
(B)The Sales price will be the greater of $390,000 or the fair market value of the Property as of the date of the Sale;
(C)The fair market value of the Property has been determined by a qualified, independent appraiser;
(D)The Sale is a one-time transaction for cash; and
(E)The IRA will not pay any commissions, costs or other expenses in connection with the Sale. Summary of Facts and Representations 1. The IRA is an individual retirement account established under section 408(a) of the Code. The Applicant is the sole participant of the IRA. The assets of the IRA consist of the Property as well as cash in the amount of $2,654.89 (as of December 2006). Thus, the total amount of assets in the IRA, including the fair market value of the property, is $392,654.89. The Property represents approximately 99.32% of the total IRA assets. The Applicant is a physician. The Applicant and her agent, Thomas M. Riddle of Valley National Investments, Inc. are the only persons who have investment discretion over the assets in the IRA. The Property was originally held in the Allentown Anesthesia Associates, Inc. Restated Defined Contribution Pension Plan and Trust (the Plan), in which the Applicant was a participant. There were six participants in the Plan, each having their own separate account. The Property was originally purchased for $137,000 in 1997 for Dr. Widge's individually directed account. The IRA has paid $16,076.47 in real estate taxes from 1997 through the present date. The Plan was terminated because of a merger affecting the Plan sponsor. When the Plan was terminated in 1997, the Property was rolled over into the IRA. 2. The Applicant requests an exemption for the Sale. The Applicant represents that the proposed transaction would be feasible because it would be a one-time transaction for cash and will enable the IRA to diversify its investment portfolio. Furthermore, the Applicant states that the transaction would be in the best interest of the IRA because the Sale would enable the IRA to invest the proceeds from the Sale in assets with a high rate of return without incurring costs such as real estate taxes. Finally, the Applicant represents that the transaction will be protective of the rights of the IRA's participant because the IRA will receive the greater of $390,000 or the fair market value of the Property, as determined by an independent, qualified appraiser on the date of the Sale, and will incur no commissions, costs, or other expenses as a result of the Sale. 3. Robert R. DeTurck (Mr. DeTurck), a qualified, independent appraiser certified by the state of Pennsylvania who is associated with Deturck Realtors Inc., located in Reading, Pennsylvania, appraised the Property on August 31, 2006. Mr. DeTurck determined the Property to have a $390,000 fair market value. The valuation was based on the sales comparison approach. The comparison approach determines the most probable price which a property should bring in a competitive and open market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale with the buyer and seller acting prudently and knowledgeably, and assuming the price is not affected by undue stimulus. 4. In summary, the Applicant represents that the proposed transaction satisfies the statutory criteria of section 4975(c)(2) of the Code because:
(A)All terms and conditions of the Sale are at least as favorable to the IRA as those which the IRA could obtain in an arm's-length transaction with an unrelated party;
(B)The Sales price will be the greater of $390,000 or the fair market value of the Property as of the date of the Sale;
(C)The fair market value of the Property has been determined by an independent, qualified appraiser;
(D)The Sale is a one-time transaction for cash; and
(E)The IRA will not pay any commissions, costs or other expenses in connection with the Sale. *Notice to Interested Parties:* Because the Applicant is the only participant in the IRA, it has been determined that there is no need to distribute the notice of proposed exemption (the Notice) to interested persons. Comments and requests for a hearing are due thirty
(30)days after publication of the Notice in the **Federal Register** . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Khalif Ford of the Department, telephone
(202)693-8562 (this is not a toll-free number). Credit Suisse
(CS)and Its Current and Future Affiliates (Collectively, the Applicant) Located in Zurich, Switzerland, With Offices Around the World [Application No. D-11434] Proposed Exemption The Department of Labor (the Department) is considering granting an exemption under the authority of section 408(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (the Act) and section 4975(c)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the Code) and in accordance with the procedures set forth in 29 CFR Part 2570, Subpart B (55 FR 32836, 32847, August 10, 1990). Section I. Transactions If the proposed exemption is granted, the restrictions of section 406 of the Act and the sanctions resulting from the application of section 4975 of the Code, by reason of section 4975(c)(1)(A) through
(F)of the Code, shall not apply to the purchase of certain securities (the Securities), as defined, below in Section III(h), by an asset management affiliate of CS, as “affiliate” is defined, below, in Section III(c), from any person other than such asset management affiliate of CS or any affiliate thereof, during the existence of an underwriting or selling syndicate with respect to such Securities, where a broker-dealer affiliated with CS (the Affiliated Broker-Dealer), as defined, below, in Section III(b), is a manager or member of such syndicate and the asset management affiliate of CS purchases such Securities, as a fiduciary:
(a)On behalf of an employee benefit plan or employee benefit plans (Client Plan(s)), as defined, below, in Section III(e); or
(b)On behalf of Client Plans, and/or In-House Plans, as defined, below, in Section III(l), which are invested in a pooled fund or in pooled funds (Pooled Fund(s)), as defined, below, in Section III(f); provided that the conditions as set forth, below, in Section II, are satisfied (An affiliated underwriter transaction (AUT)). 2 2 For purposes of this proposed exemption an In-House Plan may engage in AUT's only through investment in a Pooled Fund. Section II. Conditions The proposed exemption is conditioned upon adherence to the material facts and representations described herein and upon satisfaction of the following requirements: (a)(1) The Securities to be purchased are either—
(i)Part of an issue registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the 1933 Act) (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.). If the Securities to be purchased are part of an issue that is exempt from such registration requirement, such Securities:
(A)Are issued or guaranteed by the United States or by any person controlled or supervised by and acting as an instrumentality of the United States pursuant to authority granted by the Congress of the United States,
(B)Are issued by a bank,
(C)Are exempt from such registration requirement pursuant to a federal statute other than the 1933 Act, or
(D)Are the subject of a distribution and are of a class which is required to be registered under section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 1934 Act) (15 U.S.C. 781), and are issued by an issuer that has been subject to the reporting requirements of section 13 of the 1934 Act (15 U.S.C. 78m) for a period of at least ninety
(90)days immediately preceding the sale of such Securities and that has filed all reports required to be filed thereunder with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC)during the preceding twelve
(12)months; or
(ii)Part of an issue that is an Eligible Rule 144A Offering, as defined in SEC Rule 10f-3 (17 CFR 270.10f-3(a)(4)). Where the Eligible Rule 144A Offering of the Securities is of equity securities, the offering syndicate shall obtain a legal opinion regarding the adequacy of the disclosure in the offering memorandum;
(2)The Securities to be purchased are purchased prior to the end of the first day on which any sales are made, pursuant to that offering, at a price that is not more than the price paid by each other purchaser of the Securities in that offering or in any concurrent offering of the Securities, except that—
(i)If such Securities are offered for subscription upon exercise of rights, they may be purchased on or before the fourth day preceding the day on which the rights offering terminates; or
(ii)If such Securities are debt securities, they may be purchased at a price that is not more than the price paid by each other purchaser of the Securities in that offering or in any concurrent offering of the Securities and may be purchased on a day subsequent to the end of the first day on which any sales are made, pursuant to that offering, provided that the interest rates, as of the date of such purchase, on comparable debt securities offered to the public subsequent to the end of the first day on which any sales are made and prior to the purchase date are less than the interest rate of the debt Securities being purchased; and
(3)The Securities to be purchased are offered pursuant to an underwriting or selling agreement under which the members of the syndicate are committed to purchase all of the Securities being offered, except if—
(i)Such Securities are purchased by others pursuant to a rights offering; or
(ii)Such Securities are offered pursuant to an over-allotment option.
(b)The issuer of the Securities to be purchased pursuant to this proposed exemption must have been in continuous operation for not less than three years, including the operation of any predecessors, unless the Securities to be purchased are—
(1)Non-convertible debt securities rated in one of the four highest rating categories by Standard & Poor's Rating Services, Moody's Investors Service, Inc., FitchRatings, Inc., Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited, Dominion Bond Rating Service, Inc., or any successors thereto (collectively, the Rating Organizations), provided that none of the Rating Organizations rates such Securities in a category lower than the fourth highest rating category; or
(2)Debt securities issued or fully guaranteed by the United States or by any person controlled or supervised by and acting as an instrumentality of the United States pursuant to authority granted by the Congress of the United States; or
(3)Debt securities which are fully guaranteed by a person (the Guarantor) that has been in continuous operation for not less than three years, including the operation of any predecessors, provided that such Guarantor has issued other securities registered under the 1933 Act; or if such Guarantor has issued other securities which are exempt from such registration requirement, such Guarantor has been in continuous operation for not less than three years, including the operation of any predecessors, and such Guarantor is:
(a)A bank; or
(b)An issuer of securities which are exempt from such registration requirement, pursuant to a Federal statute other than the 1933 Act; or
(c)An issuer of securities that are the subject of a distribution and are of a class which is required to be registered under section 12 of the 1934 Act (15 U.S.C. 781), and are issued by an issuer that has been subject to the reporting requirements of section 13 of the 1934 Act (15 U.S.C. 78m) for a period of at least ninety
(90)days immediately preceding the sale of such securities and that has filed all reports required to be filed thereunder with the SEC during the preceding twelve
(12)months.
(d)The aggregate amount of Securities of an issue purchased, pursuant to this proposed exemption, by the asset management affiliate of CS with:
(i)The assets of all Client Plans; and
(ii)The assets, calculated on a pro-rata basis, of all Client Plans and In-House Plans investing in Pooled Funds managed by the asset management affiliate of CS; and
(iii)The assets of plans to which the asset management affiliate of CS renders investment advice within the meaning of 29 CFR 2510.3-21(c) does not exceed:
(1)Ten percent (10%) of the total amount of the Securities being offered in an issue, if such Securities are equity securities;
(2)Thirty-five percent (35%) of the total amount of the Securities being offered in an issue, if such Securities are debt securities rated in one of the four highest rating categories by at least one of the Rating Organizations, provided that none of the Rating Organizations rates such Securities in a category lower than the fourth highest rating category; or
(3)Twenty-five percent (25%) of the total amount of the Securities being offered in an issue, if such Securities are debt securities rated in the fifth or sixth highest rating categories by at least one of the Rating Organizations; provided that none of the Rating Organizations rates such Securities in a category lower than the sixth highest rating category; and
(4)The assets of any single Client Plan (and the assets of any Client Plans and any In-House Plans investing in Pooled Funds) may not be used to purchase any Securities being offered, if such Securities are debt securities rated lower than the sixth highest rating category by any of the Rating Organizations;
(5)Notwithstanding the percentage of Securities of an issue permitted to be acquired, as set forth in Section II(c)(1), (2), and (3), above, of this proposed exemption, the amount of Securities in any issue (whether equity or debt securities) purchased, pursuant to this proposed exemption, by the asset management affiliate of CS on behalf of any single Client Plan, either individually or through investment, calculated on a pro-rata basis, in a Pooled Fund may not exceed three percent (3%) of the total amount of such Securities being offered in such issue, and;
(6)If purchased in an Eligible Rule 144A Offering, the total amount of the Securities being offered for purposes of determining the percentages, described, above, in Section II(c)(1)-(3) and (5), is the total of:
(i)The principal amount of the offering of such class of Securities sold by underwriters or members of the selling syndicate to “qualified institutional buyers” (QIBs), as defined in SEC Rule 144A (17 CFR 230.144A(a)(1)); plus
(ii)The principal amount of the offering of such class of Securities in any concurrent public offering.
(d)The aggregate amount to be paid by any single Client Plan in purchasing any Securities which are the subject of this proposed exemption, including any amounts paid by any Client Plan or In-House Plan in purchasing such Securities through a Pooled Fund, calculated on a pro-rata basis, does not exceed three percent (3%) of the fair market value of the net assets of such Client Plan or In-House Plan, as of the last day of the most recent fiscal quarter of such Client Plan or In-House Plan prior to such transaction.
(e)The covered transactions are not part of an agreement, arrangement, or understanding designed to benefit the asset management affiliate of CS or an affiliate.
(f)The Affiliated Broker-Dealer does not receive, either directly, indirectly, or through designation, any selling concession, or other compensation or consideration that is based upon the amount of Securities purchased by any single Client Plan, or that is based on the amount of Securities purchased by Client Plans or In-House Plans through Pooled Funds, pursuant to this proposed exemption. In this regard, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer may not receive, either directly or indirectly, any compensation or consideration that is attributable to the fixed designations generated by purchases of the Securities by the asset management affiliate of CS on behalf of any single Client Plan or any Client Plan or In-House Plan in Pooled Funds. (g)(1) The amount the Affiliated Broker-Dealer receives in management, underwriting, or other compensation or consideration is not increased through an agreement, arrangement, or understanding for the purpose of compensating the Affiliated Broker-Dealer for foregoing any selling concessions for those Securities sold pursuant to this proposed exemption. Except as described above, nothing in this Section II(g)(1) shall be construed as precluding the Affiliated Broker-Dealer from receiving management fees for serving as manager of the underwriting or selling syndicate, underwriting fees for assuming the responsibilities of an underwriter in the underwriting or selling syndicate, or other compensation or consideration that is not based upon the amount of Securities purchased by the asset management affiliate of CS on behalf of any single Client Plan, or on behalf of any Client Plan or In-House Plan participating in Pooled Funds, pursuant to this proposed exemption; and
(2)The Affiliated Broker-Dealer shall provide to the asset management affiliate of CS a written certification, dated and signed by an officer of the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, stating the amount that the Affiliated Broker-Dealer received in compensation or consideration during the past quarter, in connection with any offerings covered by this proposed exemption, was not adjusted in a manner inconsistent with Section II(e), (f), or
(g)of this proposed exemption.
(h)The covered transactions are performed under a written authorization executed in advance by an independent fiduciary of each single Client Plan (the Independent Fiduciary), as defined, below, in Section III(g).
(i)Prior to the execution by an Independent Fiduciary of a single Client Plan of the written authorization described, above, in Section II(h), the following information and materials (which may be provided electronically) must be provided by the asset management affiliate of CS to such Independent Fiduciary:
(1)A copy of the Notice of Proposed Exemption (the Notice) and a copy of the final exemption (the Grant) as published in the **Federal Register** , provided that the Notice and the Grant are supplied simultaneously; and
(2)Any other reasonably available information regarding the covered transactions that such Independent Fiduciary requests the asset management affiliate of CS to provide.
(j)Subsequent to the initial authorization by an Independent Fiduciary of a single Client Plan permitting the asset management affiliate of CS to engage in the covered transactions on behalf of such single Client Plan, the asset management affiliate of CS will continue to be subject to the requirement to provide within a reasonable period of time any reasonably available information regarding the covered transactions that the Independent Fiduciary requests the asset management affiliate of CS to provide. (k)(1) In the case of an existing employee benefit plan investor (or existing In-House Plan investor, as the case may be) in a Pooled Fund, such Pooled Fund may not engage in any covered transactions pursuant to this proposed exemption, unless the asset management affiliate of CS provides the written information, as described, below, and within the time period described, below, in this Section II(k)(2), to the Independent Fiduciary of each such plan participating in such Pooled Fund (and to the fiduciary of each such In-House Plan participating in such Pooled Fund).
(2)The following information and materials (which may be provided electronically) shall be provided by the asset management affiliate of CS not less than 45 days prior to such asset management affiliate of CS engaging in the covered transactions on behalf of a Pooled Fund, pursuant to this proposed exemption, and provided further that the information described below, in this Section II(k)(2)(i) and
(iii)is supplied simultaneously:
(i)A notice of the intent of such Pooled Fund to purchase Securities pursuant to this proposed exemption, a copy of this Notice, and a copy of the Grant, as published in the **Federal Register** ;
(ii)Any other reasonably available information regarding the covered transactions that the Independent Fiduciary of a plan (or fiduciary of an In-House Plan) participating in a Pooled Fund requests the asset management affiliate of CS to provide; and
(iii)A termination form expressly providing an election for the Independent Fiduciary of a plan (or fiduciary of an In-House Plan) participating in a Pooled Fund to terminate such plan's (or In-House Plan's) investment in such Pooled Fund without penalty to such plan (or In-House Plan). Such form shall include instructions specifying how to use the form. Specifically, the instructions will explain that such plan (or such In-House Plan) has an opportunity to withdraw its assets from a Pooled Fund for a period of no more than 30 days after such plan's (or such In-House Plan's) receipt of the initial notice of intent, described, above, in Section II(k)(2)(i), and that the failure of the Independent Fiduciary of such plan (or fiduciary of such In-House Plan) to return the termination form to the asset management affiliate of CS in the case of a plan (or In-House Plan) participating in a Pooled Fund by the specified date shall be deemed to be an approval by such plan (or such In-House Plan) of its participation in the covered transactions as an investor in such Pooled Fund. Further, the instructions will identify CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer and will provide the address of the asset management affiliate of CS. The instructions will state that this proposed exemption may be unavailable, unless the fiduciary of each plan participating in the covered transactions as an investor in a Pooled Fund is, in fact, independent of CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer. The instructions will also state that the fiduciary of each such plan must advise the asset management affiliate of CS, in writing, if it is not an “Independent Fiduciary,” as that term is defined, below, in Section III(g). For purposes of this Section II(k), the requirement that the fiduciary responsible for the decision to authorize the transactions described, above, in Section I of this proposed exemption for each plan be independent of the asset management affiliate of CS shall not apply in the case of an In-House Plan. (l)(1) In the case of each plan (and in the case of each In-House Plan) whose assets are proposed to be invested in a Pooled Fund after such Pooled Fund has satisfied the conditions set forth in this proposed exemption to engage in the covered transactions, the investment by such plan (or by such In-House Plan) in the Pooled Fund is subject to the prior written authorization of an Independent Fiduciary representing such plan (or the prior written authorization by the fiduciary of such In-House Plan, as the case may be), following the receipt by such Independent Fiduciary of such plan (or by the fiduciary of such In-House Plan, as the case may be) of the written information described, above, in Section II(k)(2)(i) and (ii); provided that the Notice and the Grant, described above in Section II(k)(2)(i), are provided simultaneously.
(2)For purposes of this Section II(l), the requirement that the fiduciary responsible for the decision to authorize the transactions described, above, in Section I of this proposed exemption for each plan proposing to invest in a Pooled Fund be independent of CS and its affiliates shall not apply in the case of an In-House Plan.
(m)Subsequent to the initial authorization by an Independent Fiduciary of a plan (or by a fiduciary of an In-House Plan) to invest in a Pooled Fund that engages in the covered transactions, the asset management affiliate of CS will continue to be subject to the requirement to provide within a reasonable period of time any reasonably available information regarding the covered transactions that the Independent Fiduciary of such plan (or the fiduciary of such In-House Plan, as the case may be) requests the asset management affiliate of CS to provide.
(n)At least once every three months, and not later than 45 days following the period to which such information relates, the asset management affiliate of CS shall furnish:
(1)In the case of each single Client Plan that engages in the covered transactions, the information described, below, in this Section II(n)(3)-(7), to the Independent Fiduciary of each such single Client Plan.
(2)In the case of each Pooled Fund in which a Client Plan (or in which an In-House Plan) invests, the information described, below, in this Section II(n)(3)-(6) and (8), to the Independent Fiduciary of each such Client Plan (and to the fiduciary of each such In-House Plan) invested in such Pooled Fund.
(3)A quarterly report (the Quarterly Report) (which may be provided electronically) which discloses all the Securities purchased pursuant to this proposed exemption during the period to which such report relates on behalf of the Client Plan, In-House Plan, or Pooled Fund to which such report relates, and which discloses the terms of each of the transactions described in such report, including:
(i)The type of Securities (including the rating of any Securities which are debt securities) involved in each transaction;
(ii)The price at which the Securities were purchased in each transaction;
(iii)The first day on which any sale was made during the offering of the Securities;
(iv)The size of the issue of the Securities involved in each transaction;
(v)The number of Securities purchased by the asset management affiliate of CS for the Client Plan, In-House Plan, or Pooled Fund to which the transaction relates;
(vi)The identity of the underwriter from whom the Securities were purchased for each transaction;
(vii)The underwriting spread in each transaction ( *i.e.* , the difference, between the price at which the underwriter purchases the Securities from the issuer and the price at which the Securities are sold to the public);
(viii)The price at which any of the Securities purchased during the period to which such report relates were sold; and
(ix)The market value at the end of the period to which such report relates of the Securities purchased during such period and not sold;
(4)The Quarterly Report contains:
(i)A representation that the asset management affiliate of CS has received a written certification signed by an officer of the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, as described, above, in Section II(g)(2), affirming that, as to each AUT covered by this proposed exemption during the past quarter, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer acted in compliance with Section II(e), (f), and
(g)of this proposed exemption, and
(ii)A representation that copies of such certifications will be provided upon request;
(5)A disclosure in the Quarterly Report that states that any other reasonably available information regarding a covered transaction that an Independent Fiduciary (or fiduciary of an In-House Plan) requests will be provided, including, but not limited to:
(i)The date on which the Securities were purchased on behalf of the Client Plan (or the In-House Plan) to which the disclosure relates (including Securities purchased by Pooled Funds in which such Client Plan (or such In-House Plan) invests);
(ii)The percentage of the offering purchased on behalf of all Client Plans (and the pro-rata percentage purchased on behalf of Client Plans and In-House Plans investing in Pooled Funds); and
(iii)The identity of all members of the underwriting syndicate;
(6)The Quarterly Report discloses any instance during the past quarter where the asset management affiliate of CS was precluded for any period of time from selling Securities purchased under this proposed exemption in that quarter because of its status as an affiliate of an Affiliated Broker-Dealer and the reason for this restriction;
(7)Explicit notification, prominently displayed in each Quarterly Report sent to the Independent Fiduciary of each single Client Plan that engages in the covered transactions that the authorization to engage in such covered transactions may be terminated, without penalty to such single Client Plan, within five
(5)days after the date that the Independent Fiduciary of such single Client Plan informs the person identified in such notification that the authorization to engage in the covered transactions is terminated; and
(8)Explicit notification, prominently displayed in each Quarterly Report sent to the Independent Fiduciary of each Client Plan (and to the fiduciary of each In-House Plan) that engages in the covered transactions through a Pooled Fund that the investment in such Pooled Fund may be terminated, without penalty to such Client Plan (or such In-House Plan), within such time as may be necessary to effect the withdrawal in an orderly manner that is equitable to all withdrawing plans and to the non-withdrawing plans, after the date that that the Independent Fiduciary of such Client Plan (or the fiduciary of such In-House Plan, as the case may be) informs the person identified in such notification that the investment in such Pooled Fund is terminated.
(o)For purposes of engaging in covered transactions, each Client Plan (and each In-House Plan) shall have total net assets with a value of at least $50 million (the $50 Million Net Asset Requirement). For purposes of engaging in covered transactions involving an Eligible Rule 144A Offering, 3 each Client Plan (and each In-House Plan) shall have total net assets of at least $100 million in securities of issuers that are not affiliated with such Client Plan (or such In-House Plan, as the case may be) (the $100 Million Net Asset Requirement). 3 SEC Rule 10f-3(a)(4), 17 *CFR* § 270.10f-3(a)(4), states that the term “Eligible Rule 144A Offering” means an offering of securities that meets the following conditions:
(i)The securities are offered or sold in transactions exempt from registration under section 4(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 [15 U.S.C. 77d(d)], rule 144A thereunder [§ 230.144A of this chapter], or rules 501-508 thereunder [§§ 230.501-230-508 of this chapter];
(ii)The securities are sold to persons that the seller and any person acting on behalf of the seller reasonably believe to include qualified institutional buyers, as defined in § 230.144A(a)(1) of this chapter; and
(iii)The seller and any person acting on behalf of the seller reasonably believe that the securities are eligible for resale to other qualified institutional buyers pursuant to § 230.144A of this chapter. For purposes of a Pooled Fund engaging in covered transactions, each Client Plan (and each In-House Plan) in such Pooled Fund shall have total net assets with a value of at least $50 million. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if each such Client Plan (and each such In-House Plan) in such Pooled Fund does not have total net assets with a value of at least $50 million, the $50 Million Net Asset Requirement will be met if 50 percent (50%) or more of the units of beneficial interest in such Pooled Fund are held by Client Plans (or by In-House Plans) each of which has total net assets with a value of at least $50 million. For purposes of a Pooled Fund engaging in covered transactions involving an Eligible Rule 144A Offering, each Client Plan (and each In-House Plan) in such Pooled Fund shall have total net assets of at least $100 million in securities of issuers that are not affiliated with such Client Plan (or such In-House Plan, as the case may be). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if each such Client Plan (and each such In-House Plan) in such Pooled Fund does not have total net assets of at least $100 million in securities of issuers that are not affiliated with such Client Plan (or In-House Plan, as the case may be), the $100 Million Net Asset Requirement will be met if 50 percent (50%) or more of the units of beneficial interest in such Pooled Fund are held by Client Plans (or by In-House Plans) each of which have total net assets of at least $100 million in securities of issuers that are not affiliated with such Client Plan (or such In-House Plan, as the case may be), and the Pooled Fund itself qualifies as a QIB, as determined pursuant to SEC Rule 144A (17 CFR 230.144A(a)(F)). For purposes of the net asset requirements described above, in this Section II(o), where a group of Client Plans is maintained by a single employer or controlled group of employers, as defined in section 407(d)(7) of the Act, the $50 Million Net Asset Requirement (or in the case of an Eligible Rule 144A Offering, the $100 Million Net Asset Requirement) may be met by aggregating the assets of such Client Plans, if the assets of such Client Plans are pooled for investment purposes in a single master trust.
(p)The asset management affiliate of CS qualifies as a “qualified professional asset manager” (QPAM), as that term is defined under Section V(a) of PTE 84-14. In addition to satisfying the requirements for a QPAM under Section V(a) of PTE 84-14, the asset management affiliate of CS must also have total client assets under its management and control in excess of $5 billion, as of the last day of its most recent fiscal year and shareholders' or partners' equity in excess of $1 million.
(q)No more than 20 percent of the assets of a Pooled Fund at the time of a covered transaction, are comprised of assets of In-House Plans for which CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, or an affiliate exercises investment discretion.
(r)The asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, as applicable, maintain, or cause to be maintained, for a period of six
(6)years from the date of any covered transaction such records as are necessary to enable the persons, described, below, in Section II(s), to determine whether the conditions of this proposed exemption have been met, except that—
(1)No party in interest with respect to a plan which engages in the covered transactions, other than CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, as applicable, shall be subject to a civil penalty under section 502(i) of the Act or the taxes imposed by section 4975(a) and
(b)of the Code, if such records are not maintained, or not available for examination, as required, below, by Section II(s); and
(2)A separate prohibited transaction shall not be considered to have occurred solely because, due to circumstances beyond the control of the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, as applicable, such records are lost or destroyed prior to the end of the six-year period. (s)(1) Except as provided, below, in Section II(s)(2), and notwithstanding any provisions of subsections (a)(2) and
(b)of section 504 of the Act, the records referred to above, in Section II(r), are unconditionally available at their customary location for examination during normal business hours by—
(i)Any duly authorized employee or representative of the Department, the Internal Revenue Service, or the SEC; or
(ii)Any fiduciary of any plan that engages in the covered transactions, or any duly authorized employee or representative of such fiduciary; or
(iii)Any employer of participants and beneficiaries and any employee organization whose members are covered by a plan that engages in the covered transactions, or any authorized employee or representative of these entities; or
(iv)Any participant or beneficiary of a plan that engages in the covered transactions, or duly authorized employee or representative of such participant or beneficiary;
(2)None of the persons described above, in Section II(s)(1)(ii)-(iv), shall be authorized to examine trade secrets of the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, or commercial or financial information which is privileged or confidential; and
(3)Should the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer refuse to disclose information on the basis that such information is exempt from disclosure, pursuant to Section II(s)(2) above, the asset management affiliate of CS shall, by the close of the thirtieth
(30th)day following the request, provide a written notice advising that person of the reasons for the refusal and that the Department may request such information. Section III. Definitions
(a)The term, “the Applicant,” means CS and its current and future affiliates.
(b)The term, “Affiliated Broker-Dealer,” means any broker-dealer affiliate, as “affiliate” is defined, below, in Section III(c), of the Applicant, as “Applicant” is defined, above, in Section III(a), that meets the requirements of this proposed exemption. Such Affiliated Broker-Dealer may participate in an underwriting or selling syndicate as a manager or member. The term, “manager,” means any member of an underwriting or selling syndicate who, either alone or together with other members of the syndicate, is authorized to act on behalf of the members of the syndicate in connection with the sale and distribution of the Securities, as defined below, in Section III(h), being offered or who receives compensation from the members of the syndicate for its services as a manager of the syndicate.
(c)The term “affiliate” of a person includes:
(1)Any person directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controlling, controlled by, or under common control with such person;
(2)Any officer, director, partner, employee, or relative, as defined in section 3(15) of the Act, of such person; and
(3)Any corporation or partnership of which such person is an officer, director, partner, or employee.
(d)The term, “control,” means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a person other than an individual.
(e)The term, “Client Plan(s),” means an employee benefit plan(s) that is subject to the Act and/or the Code, and for which plan(s) an asset management affiliate of CS exercises discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management or disposition of some or all of the assets of such plan(s), but excludes In-House Plans, as defined, below, in Section III(l).
(f)The term, “Pooled Fund(s),” means a common or collective trust fund(s) or a pooled investment fund(s):
(1)In which employee benefit plan(s) subject to the Act and/or Code invest,
(2)Which is maintained by an asset management affiliate of CS, (as the term, “affiliate” is defined, above, in Section III(c)), and
(3)For which such asset management affiliate of CS exercises discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting the management or disposition of the assets of such fund(s). (g)(1) The term, “Independent Fiduciary,” means a fiduciary of a plan who is unrelated to, and independent of CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer. For purposes of this proposed exemption, a fiduciary of a plan will be deemed to be unrelated to, and independent of CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, and the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, if such fiduciary represents in writing that neither such fiduciary, nor any individual responsible for the decision to authorize or terminate authorization for the transactions described above, in Section I of this proposed exemption, is an officer, director, or highly compensated employee (within the meaning of section 4975(e)(2)(H) of the Code) of CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer, and represents that such fiduciary shall advise the asset management affiliate of CS within a reasonable period of time after any change in such facts occur.
(2)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section III(g), a fiduciary of a plan is not independent:
(i)If such fiduciary directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer;
(ii)If such fiduciary directly or indirectly receives any compensation or other consideration from CS, the asset management affiliate of CS, or the Affiliated Broker-Dealer for his or her own personal account in connection with any transaction described in this proposed exemption;
(iii)If any officer, director, or highly compensated employee (within the meaning of section 4975(e)(2)(H) of the Code) of the asset management affiliate of CS responsible for the transactions described above, in Section I of this proposed exemption, is an officer, director, or highly compensated employee (within the meaning of section 4975(e)(2)(H) of the Code) of the sponsor of the plan or of the fiduciary responsible for the decision to authorize or terminate authorization for the transactions described above, in Section I. However, if such individual is a director of the sponsor of the plan or of the responsible fiduciary, and if he or she abstains from participation in:
(A)the choice of the plan's investment manager/adviser; and
(B)the decision to authorize or terminate authorization for transactions described above, in Section I, then this Section III(g)(2)(iii) shall not apply.
(3)The term, “officer,” means a president, any vice president in charge of a principal business unit, division, or function (such as sales, administration, or finance), or any other officer who performs a policy-making function for CS or any affiliate thereof.
(h)The term, “Securities,” shall have the same meaning as defined in section 2(36) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the 1940 Act), as amended (15 U.S.C. 80a-2(36)(2001)). For purposes of this proposed exemption, mortgage-backed or other asset-backed securities rated by one of the Rating Organizations, as defined, below, in Section III(k), will be treated as debt securities.
(i)The term, “Eligible Rule 144A Offering,” shall have the same meaning as defined in SEC Rule 10f-3(a)(4) (17 CFR 270.10f-3(a)(4)) under the 1940 Act).
(j)The term, “qualified institutional buyer,” or the term, “QIB,” shall have the same meaning as defined in SEC Rule 144A (17 CFR 230.144A(a)(1)) under the 1933 Act.
(k)The term, “Rating Organizations,” means Standard & Poor's Rating Services, Moody's Investors Service, Inc., FitchRatings, Inc., Dominion Bond Rating Service Limited, and Dominion Bond Rating Service, Inc., or any successors thereto.
(l)The term, “In-House Plan(s),” means an employee benefit plan(s) that is subject to the Act and/or the Code, and that is sponsored by the Applicant, as defined, above, in Section III(a) for its own employees. Summary of Facts and Representations The Applicant 1. The Applicant consists of CS and its current and future affiliates. CS, a business unit of Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group, is a leading global investment bank with numerous institutional and other clients. CS's business lines include securities underwriting, sales and trading, private equity, financial advisory services, investment research and asset management. Credit Suisse Asset Management Securities, Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities
(USA)LLC are registered broker-dealers (hereinafter, collectively with any other current and future broker-dealer affiliates, “the Affiliated Broker-Dealer”) and are regulated by the SEC under Section 15 of the 1934 Act. Credit Suisse Asset Management, LLC
(CSAM)focuses on institutional, mutual fund and private client investors, in the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe. CSAM is an investment adviser registered under the 1940 Act. As of December 31, 2006, CS had assets under management of approximately $1.2 trillion and shareholder equity of approximately $34.7 billion. 2. The Applicant is regulated by federal government agencies, such as the SEC, as well as by state government agencies, and industry self-regulatory organizations ( *e.g.* , the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers). Requested Exemption 3. The Applicant requests a prohibited transaction exemption that would permit the purchase of certain Securities by an asset management affiliate of CS (the Asset Manager), acting on behalf of Client Plans subject to the Act or Code, and acting on behalf of Client Plans and In-House Plans which are invested in certain Pooled Funds for which an Asset Manager acts as a fiduciary, from any person other than such Asset Manager or any affiliate thereof, during the existence of an underwriting or selling syndicate with respect to such Securities, where an Affiliated Broker-Dealer is a manager or member of such syndicate. Further, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer will receive no selling concessions in connection with the Securities sold to such plans. 4. The Applicant represents that if the Affiliated Broker-Dealer is a member of an underwriting or selling syndicate, the Asset Manager may purchase underwritten securities for Client Plans in accordance with Part III of Prohibited Transaction Exemption
(PTE)75-1, (40 FR 50845, October 31, 1975). Part III provides limited relief from the Act's prohibited transaction provisions for plan fiduciaries that purchase securities from an underwriting or selling syndicate of which the fiduciary or an affiliate is a member. However, such relief is not available if the Affiliated Broker-Dealer manages the underwriting or selling syndicate. 5. In addition, regardless of whether a fiduciary or its affiliate is a manager or merely a member of an underwriting or selling syndicate, PTE 75-1 does not provide relief for the purchase of unregistered securities. This includes securities purchased by an underwriter for resale to a “qualified institutional buyer”
(QIB)pursuant to the SEC's Rule 144A under the 1933 Act. Rule 144A is commonly utilized in connection with sales of securities issued by foreign corporations to U.S. investors that are QIBs. Notwithstanding the unregistered nature of such shares, it is represented that syndicates selling securities under Rule 144A (Rule 144A Securities) are the functional equivalent of those selling registered securities. 6. The Applicant represents that the Affiliated Broker-Dealer regularly serves as manager of underwriting or selling syndicates for registered securities, and as a manager or a member of underwriting or selling syndicates for Rule 144A Securities. Accordingly, the Asset Manager is currently unable to purchase on behalf of the Client Plans both registered securities and Rule 144A Securities sold in such offerings, resulting in such Client Plans being unable to participate in significant investment opportunities. 7. It is represented that since 1975, there has been a significant amount of consolidation in the financial services industry in the United States. As a result, there are more situations in which a plan fiduciary may be affiliated with the manager of an underwriting syndicate. Further, many plans have expanded investment portfolios in recent years to include securities issued by foreign corporations. As a result, the exemption provided in PTE 75-1, Part III, is often unavailable for purchase of domestic and foreign securities that may otherwise constitute appropriate plan investments. Client Plan Investments in Offered Securities 8. The Applicant represents that the Asset Manager makes its investment decisions on behalf of, or renders investment advice to, Client Plans pursuant to the governing document of the particular Client Plan or Pooled Fund and the investment guidelines and objectives set forth in the management or advisory agreement. Because the Client Plans are covered by Title I of the Act, such investment decisions are subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of the Act. 9. The Applicant states, therefore, that the decision to invest in a particular offering is made on the basis of price, value and a Client Plan's investment criteria, not on whether the securities are currently being sold through an underwriting or selling syndicate. The Applicant further states that, because the Asset Manager's compensation for its services is generally based upon assets under management, the Asset Manager has little incentive to purchase securities in an offering in which the Affiliated Broker Dealer is an underwriter unless such a purchase is in the interests of Client Plans. If the assets under management do not perform well, the Asset Manager will receive less compensation and could lose clients, costs which far outweigh any gains from the purchase of underwritten securities. 4 4 In fact, under the terms of the proposed exemption set forth herein, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer may receive no compensation or other consideration, direct or indirect, in connection with any transaction that would be permitted under the proposed exemption. 10. The Applicant states that the Asset Manager generally purchases securities in large blocks because the same investments will be made across several accounts. If there is a new offering of an equity or fixed income security that the Asset Manager wishes to purchase, it may be able to purchase the security through the offering syndicate at a lower price than it would pay in the open market, without transaction costs and with reduced market impact if it is buying a relatively large quantity. This is because a large purchase in the open market can cause an increase in the market price and, consequently, in the cost of the securities. Purchasing from an offering syndicate can thus reduce the costs to the Client Plans. 11. However, absent this proposed exemption, if the Affiliated Broker-Dealer is a manager of a syndicate that is underwriting a securities offering, the Asset Manager will be foreclosed from purchasing any securities on behalf of its Client Plans from that underwriting syndicate. This will force the Asset Manager to purchase the same securities in the secondary market. In such a circumstance, the Client Plans may incur greater costs both because the market price is often higher than the offering price, and because of transaction and market impact costs. In turn, this may cause the Asset Manager to forego other investment opportunities because the purchase price of the underwritten security in the secondary market exceeds the price that the Asset Manager would have paid to the selling syndicate. Underwriting of Securities Offerings 12. The Applicant represents that the Affiliated Broker-Dealer currently manages and participates in firm commitment underwriting syndicates for registered offerings of both equity and debt securities. While equity and debt underwritings may operate differently with regard to the actual sales process, the basic structures are the same. In a firm commitment underwriting, the underwriting syndicate acquires the securities from the issuer and then sells the securities to investors. 13. The Applicant represents that while, as a legal matter, a selling syndicate assumes the risk that the underwritten securities might not be fully sold, as a practical matter, this risk is reduced, in marketed deals, through “building a book” (i.e., taking indications of interest from potential purchasers) prior to pricing the securities. Accordingly, there is no incentive for the underwriters to use their discretionary accounts (or the discretionary accounts of their affiliates) to buy up the securities as a way to avoid underwriting liabilities. 14. Each selling syndicate has a lead manager, who is the principal contact between the syndicate and the issuer and who is responsible for organizing and coordinating the syndicate. The syndicate may also have co-managers, who generally assist the lead manager in working with the issuer to prepare the registration statement to be filed with the SEC and in distributing the underwritten securities. While equity syndicates typically include additional members that are not managers, more recently, membership in many debt underwriting syndicates has been limited to lead and co-managers. 15. If more than one underwriter is involved in a selling syndicate, the lead manager, who has been selected by the issuer of the underwritten securities, contacts other underwriters, and the underwriters enter into an “Agreement Among Underwriters.” Most lead managers have a standing form of agreement. This document is then supplemented for the particular deal by sending an “invitation telex” or “terms telex” that sets forth particular terms to the other underwriters. 16. The arrangement between the syndicate and the issuer of the underwritten securities is embodied in an underwriting agreement, which is signed on behalf of the underwriters by one or more of the managers. In a firm commitment underwriting, the underwriting agreement provides, subject to certain closing conditions, that the underwriters are obligated to purchase the underwritten securities from the issuer in accordance with their respective commitments. This obligation is met by using the proceeds received from the buyers of the securities in the offering, although there is a risk that the underwriters will have to pay for a portion of the securities in the event that not all of the securities are sold. 17. The Applicant represents that, generally, the risk that the securities will not be sold is small because the underwriting agreement is not executed until after the underwriters have obtained sufficient indications of interest to purchase the securities from a sufficient number of investors to assure that all the securities being offered will be acquired by investors. Once the underwriting agreement is executed, the underwriters immediately begin contacting the investors to confirm the sales, at first by oral communication and then by written confirmation. Sales are finalized within hours and sometimes minutes. In registered transactions, the underwriters are particularly anxious to complete the sales as soon as possible because until they “break syndicate,” they cannot enter the market. In many cases, the underwriters will act as market-makers for the security. A market-maker holds itself out as willing to buy or sell the security for its own account on a regular basis. 18. The Applicant represents that the process of “building a book” or soliciting indications of interest occurs as follows: In a registered equity offering, after a registration statement is filed with the SEC and, while it is under review by the SEC staff, representatives of the issuer of the securities and the selling syndicate managers conduct meetings with potential investors, who learn about the company and the underwritten securities. Potential investors also receive a preliminary prospectus. The underwriters cannot make any firm sales until the registration statement is declared effective by the SEC. Prior to the effective date, while the investors cannot become legally obligated to make a purchase, they indicate whether they have an interest in buying, and the managers compile a “book” of investors who are willing to “circle” a particular portion of the issue. These indications of interest are sometimes referred to as a “soft circle” because investors cannot be legally bound to buy the securities until the registration statement is effective. However, the Applicant represents that investors generally follow through on their indications of interest, and would be expected to do so, barring any sudden adverse developments (in which case it is likely that the offering would be withdrawn or the price range modified and the process restarted), because, if the investors that gave an indication of interest do not follow through, the underwriters may be reluctant to include them in future offerings. 19. Assuming that the marketing efforts have produced sufficient indications of interest, the Applicant represents that the issuer of the securities and the selling syndicate managers together will set the price of the securities and ask the SEC to declare the registration effective. After the registration statement becomes effective and the underwriting agreement is executed, the underwriters contact those investors that have indicated an interest in purchasing securities in the offering to execute the sales. The Applicant represents that offerings are often oversubscribed, and many have an over-allotment option that the underwriters can exercise to acquire additional shares from the issuer. Where an offering is oversubscribed, the underwriters decide how to allocate the securities among the potential purchasers. However, if an issue is a “hot issue,” (i.e., it is selling in the market at a premium above its offering price) the underwriters may not hold this hot issue in their own accounts, nor sell it to their employees, officers and directors. Subject to certain exceptions, a hot issue may also not be sold to the personal accounts of those responsible for investing for others, such as officers of banks, insurance companies, mutual funds and investment advisers. 20. The Applicant represents that debt offerings may be “negotiated” offerings, “competitive bid” offerings, or “bought deals.” “Negotiated” offerings, which often involve non-investment grade securities, are conducted in the same manner as an equity offering with regard to when the underwriting agreement is executed and how the securities are offered. “Competitive bid” offerings, in which the issuer determines the price for the securities through competitive bidding rather than negotiating the price with the underwriting syndicate, are performed under “shelf” registration statements pursuant to the SEC's Rule 415 under the 1933 Act (17 CFR 230.415). 5 5 Rule 415 permits an issuer to sell debt as well as equity securities under an effective registration statement previously filed with the SEC by filing a post-effective amendment or supplemental prospectus. 21. In a competitive bid offering, prospective lead underwriters will bid against one another to purchase debt securities, based upon their determinations of the degree of investor interest in the securities. Depending on the level of investor interest and the size of the offering, a bidding lead underwriter may bring in co-managers to assist in the sales process. Most of the securities are frequently sold within hours, or sometimes even less than an hour, after the securities are made available for purchase. 22. The Applicant represents that, because of market forces and the requirements of Rule 415, the competitive bid process is generally available only to issuers of investment-grade securities who have been subject to the reporting requirements of the 1934 Act for at least one
(1)year. 23. Occasionally, in highly-rated debt issues, underwriters “buy” the entire deal off of a “shelf registration” before obtaining indications of interest. These “bought” deals involve issuers whose securities enjoy a deep and liquid secondary market, such that an underwriter has confidence without pre-marketing that it can identify purchasers for the bonds. Structure of Diversified Financial Services Firms 24. The Applicant represents that there are internal policies in place that restrict contact and the flow of information between investment management personnel and non-investment management personnel in the same or affiliated financial service firms. These policies are designed to protect against “insider trading,” i.e., trading on information not available to the general public that may affect the market price of the securities. Diversified financial services firms must be concerned about insider trading problems because one part of the firm—e.g., the mergers and acquisitions group—could come into possession of non-public information regarding an upcoming transaction involving a particular issuer, while another part of the firm—e.g., the investment management group—could be trading in the securities of that issuer for its clients. 25. The Applicant represents that the business separation policies and procedures of CS and its affiliates are also structured to restrict the flow of any information to or from the Asset Manager that could limit its flexibility in managing client assets, and of information obtained or developed by the Asset Manager that could be used by other parts of the organization, to the detriment of the Asset Manager's clients. 26. The Applicant represents that major clients of the Affiliated Broker-Dealer include investment management firms that are competitors of the Asset Manager. Similarly, the Asset Manager deals on a regular basis with broker-dealers that compete with the Affiliated Broker-Dealer. If special consideration were shown to an affiliate, such conduct would likely have an adverse effect on the relationships of the Affiliated Broker-Dealer and of the Asset Manager with firms that compete with such affiliate. Therefore, a goal of the Applicant's business separation policies is to avoid any possible perception of improper flows of information between the Affiliated Broker-Dealer and the Asset Manager, in order to prevent any adverse impact on client and business relationships. Underwriting Compensation 27. The Applicant represents that the underwriters are compensated through the “spread,” or difference, between the price at which the underwriters purchase the securities from the issuer and the price at which the securities are sold to the public. The spread is divided into three components. 28. The first component includes the management fee, which generally represents an agreed upon percentage of the overall spread and is allocated among the lead manager and co-managers. Where there is more than one managing underwriter, the way the management fee will be allocated among the managers is generally agreed upon between the managers and the issuer prior to soliciting indications of interest. Thus, the allocation of the management fee is not reflective of the amount of securities that a particular manager sells in an offering. 29. The second component is the underwriting fee, which represents compensation to the underwriters (including the non-managers, if any) for the risks they assume in connection with the offering and for the use of their capital. This component of the spread is also used to cover the expenses of the underwriting that are not otherwise reimbursed by the issuer of the securities. 30. The first and second components of the “spread” are received without regard to how the underwritten securities are allocated for sales purposes or to whom the securities are sold. The third component of the spread is the selling concession, which generally constitutes 60 percent or more of the spread. The selling concession compensates the underwriters for their actual selling efforts. The allocation of selling concessions among the underwriters generally follows the allocation of the securities for sales purposes. However, a buyer of the underwritten securities may designate other broker-dealers (who may be other underwriters, as well as broker-dealers outside the syndicate) to receive the selling concessions arising from the securities they purchase. 31. Securities are allocated for sales purposes into two categories. The first and larger category is the “institutional pot,” which is the pot of securities from which sales are made to institutional investors. Selling concessions for securities sold from the institutional pot are generally designated by the purchaser to go to particular underwriters or other broker-dealers. If securities are sold from the institutional pot, the selling syndicate managers sometimes receive a portion of the selling concessions, referred to as a “fixed designation,” 6 attributable to securities sold in this category, without regard to who sold the securities or to whom they were sold. For securities covered by this proposed exemption, however, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer may not receive, either directly or indirectly, any compensation or consideration that is attributable to the fixed designation generated by purchases of securities by the Asset Manager on behalf of its Client Plans. 6 A fixed designation is sometimes referred to as an “auto pot split.” 32. The second category of allocated securities is “retail,” which are the securities retained by the underwriters for sale to their retail customers. The underwriters receive the selling concessions from their respective retail retention allocations. Securities may be shifted between the two categories based upon whether either category is oversold or undersold during the course of the offering. 33. The Applicant represents that the Affiliated Broker-Dealer's inability to receive any selling concessions, or any compensation attributable to the fixed designations generated by purchases of securities by the Asset Manager's Client Plans, removes the primary economic incentive for the Asset Manager to make purchases that are not in the interests of its Client Plans from offerings for which the Affiliated Broker-Dealer is an underwriter. The reason is that the Affiliated Broker-Dealer will not receive any additional fees as a result of such purchases by the Asset Manager. Rule 144A Securities 34. The Applicant represents that a number of the offerings of Rule 144A Securities in which the Affiliated Broker-Dealer participates represent good investment opportunities for the Asset Manager's Client Plans. Particularly with respect to foreign securities, a Rule 144A offering may provide the least expensive and most accessible means for obtaining these securities. However, as discussed above, PTE 75-1, Part III, does not cover Rule 144A Securities. Therefore, absent an exemption, the Asset Manager is foreclosed from purchasing such securities for its Client Plans in offerings in which the Affiliated Broker-Dealer participates. 35. The Applicant states that Rule 144A acts as a “safe harbor” exemption from the registration provisions of the 1933 Act for sales of certain types of securities to QIBs. QIBs include several types of institutional entities, such as employee benefit plans and commingled trust funds holding assets of such plans, which own and invest on a discretionary basis at least $100 million in securities of unaffiliated issuers. 36. Any securities may be sold pursuant to Rule 144A except for those of the same class or similar to a class that is publicly traded in the United States, or certain types of investment company securities. This limitation is designed to prevent side-by-side public and private markets developing for the same class of securities and is the reason that Rule 144A transactions are generally limited to debt securities. 37. Buyers of Rule 144A Securities must be able to obtain, upon request, basic information concerning the business of the issuer and the issuer's financial statements, much of the same information as would be furnished if the offering were registered. This condition does not apply, however, to an issuer filing reports with the SEC under the 1934 Act, for which reports are publicly available. The condition also does not apply to a “foreign private issuer” for whom reports are furnished to the SEC under Rule 12g3-2(b) of the 1934 Act (17 CFR 240.12g3-2(b)), or to issuers who are foreign governments or political subdivisions thereof and are eligible to use Schedule B under the 1933 Act (which describes the information and documents required to be contained in a registration statement filed by such issuers). 38. Sales under Rule 144A, like sales in a registered offering, remain subject to the protections of the anti-fraud rules of federal and state securities laws. These rules include Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder (17 CFR 240.10b-5) and Section 17(a) of the 1933 Act (15 U.S.C. 77a). Through these and other provisions, the SEC may use its full range of enforcement powers to exercise its regulatory authority over the market for Rule 144A Securities, in the event that it detects improper practices or fraud. 39. The Applicant represents that this regulatory structure provides a considerable incentive to the issuer of the securities and the members of the selling syndicate to insure that the information contained in a Rule 144A offering memorandum is complete and accurate in all material respects. Among other things, the lead manager typically obtains an opinion from a law firm, commonly referred to as a “l0b-5” opinion, stating that the law firm has no reason to believe that the offering memorandum contains any untrue statement of material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary in order to make sure the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, are not misleading. 40. The Applicant represents that Rule 144A offerings generally are structured in the same manner as underwritten registered offerings. The major difference is that a Rule l44A offering uses an offering memorandum rather than a prospectus that is filed with the SEC. The marketing process is the same in most respects, except that the selling efforts are limited to contacting QIBs and there are no general solicitations for buyers (e.g., no general advertising). In addition, the Affiliated Broker-Dealer's role in these offerings is typically that of a lead or co-manager. Generally, there are no non-manager members in a Rule 144A selling syndicate. However, the Applicant requests that the proposed exemption extend to authorization for situations where the Affiliated Broker-Dealer acts only as a syndicate member, not as a manager. Summary 41. The proposed exemption is administratively feasible. In this regard, compliance with the terms and conditions of the proposed exemption will be verifiable and subject to audit. 42. The proposed exemption is in the interest of participants and beneficiaries of Client Plans that engage in the covered transactions. In this regard, it is represented that the proposed exemption will increase investment opportunities and will reduce administrative costs for Client Plans. 43. In summary, the Applicant represents that the proposed transactions will satisfy the statutory criteria for an exemption set forth in section 408(a) of the Act because:
(a)The Client Plans and In-House Plans will gain access to desirable investment opportunities;
(b)In each offering, the Asset Manager will purchase the securities for its Client Plans and In-House Plans from an underwriter or broker-dealer other than the Affiliated Broker-Dealer;
(c)Conditions similar to those of PTE 75-1, Part III, will restrict the types of securities that may be purchased, the types of underwriting or selling syndicates and issuers involved, and the price and timing of the purchases;
(d)The amount of securities that the Asset Manager may purchase on behalf of Client Plans and In-House Plans will be subject to percentage limitations;
(e)The Affiliated Broker-Dealer will not be permitted to receive, either directly, indirectly or through designation, any selling concessions with respect to the securities sold to the Asset Manager for the account of a Client Plan or an In-House Plan;
(f)Prior to any purchase of securities, the Asset Manager will make the required disclosures to an Independent Fiduciary of each Client Plan and obtain the required written authorization to engage in the covered transactions;
(g)The Asset Manager will provide regular reporting to an Independent Fiduciary of each Client Plan with respect to all securities purchased pursuant to the exemption, if granted;
(h)Each Client Plan and each In-House Plan will be subject to net asset requirements, with certain exceptions for Pooled Funds; and
(i)The Asset Manager must have total assets under management in excess of $5 billion and shareholders' or partners' equity in excess of $1 million, in addition to qualifying as a QPAM, pursuant to Part V(a) of PTE 84-14. *Notice To Intersted Persons:* The Applicant represents that because those potentially interested Plans proposing to engage in the covered transactions cannot all be identified, the only practical means of notifying Independent Plan Fiduciaries or Plan Participants of such affected Plans is by publication of the proposed exemption in the **Federal Register** . Therefore, any comments from interested persons must be received by the Department no later than 30 days from the publication of this notice of proposed exemption in the **Federal Register** . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gary H. Lefkowitz of the Department, telephone
(202)693-8546. (This is not a toll-free number.) General Information The attention of interested persons is directed to the following:
(1)The fact that a transaction is the subject of an exemption under section 408(a) of the Act and/or section 4975(c)(2) of the Code does not relieve a fiduciary or other party in interest or disqualified person from certain other provisions of the Act and/or the Code, including any prohibited transaction provisions to which the exemption does not apply and the general fiduciary responsibility provisions of section 404 of the Act, which, among other things, require a fiduciary to discharge his duties respecting the plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of the plan and in a prudent fashion in accordance with section 404(a)(1)(b) of the Act; nor does it affect the requirement of section 401(a) of the Code that the plan must operate for the exclusive benefit of the employees of the employer maintaining the plan and their beneficiaries;
(2)Before an exemption may be granted under section 408(a) of the Act and/or section 4975(c)(2) of the Code, the Department must find that the exemption is administratively feasible, in the interests of the plan and of its participants and beneficiaries, and protective of the rights of participants and beneficiaries of the plan;
(3)The proposed exemptions, if granted, will be supplemental to, and not in derogation of, any other provisions of the Act and/or the Code, including statutory or administrative exemptions and transitional rules. Furthermore, the fact that a transaction is subject to an administrative or statutory exemption is not dispositive of whether the transaction is in fact a prohibited transaction; and
(4)The proposed exemptions, if granted, will be subject to the express condition that the material facts and representations contained in each application are true and complete, and that each application accurately describes all material terms of the transaction which is the subject of the exemption. Signed at Washington, DC, this 14th day of January, 2008. Ivan Strasfeld, Director of Exemption Determinations, Employee Benefits Security Administration. U.S. Department of Labor. [FR Doc. E8-799 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4510-29-P DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Advisory Committee on Women Veterans; Notice of Meeting The Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA)gives notice under Public Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans will meet February 19-21, 2008 at 1575 I Street, NW., Washington, DC, from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., each day. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the Committee is to advise the Secretary of Veterans Affairs regarding the needs of women veterans with respect to health care, rehabilitation, compensation, outreach, and other programs and activities administered by VA designed to meet such needs. The Committee will make recommendations to the Secretary regarding such programs and activities. On February 19, the agenda will include overviews of the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, the National Cemetery Administration, an update on the 2006 Advisory Committee on Women Veterans report, an update on the activities conducted by the Center for Women Veterans, research, homeless veteran initiatives, and an overview of the Federal Recovery Center. On February 20, the agenda will include discussion of standardized training for health care affiliates and post graduates, discussion of improving outreach to women veterans, and an update on National Center for PTSD Expert Workgroup research—“Best Practice Manual for PTSD Compensation and Pension Examination”. On February 21, the agenda will focus on preparation of the 2008 Advisory Committee on Women Veterans report. The agenda will also include any new issues that the Committee members may introduce. Any member of the public wishing to attend should contact Ms. Shannon L. Middleton, at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for Women Veterans (OOW), 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. Ms. Middleton may be contacted either by phone at
(202)461-6193, fax at
(202)273-7092, or e-mail at *OOW@mail.va.gov.* Interested persons may attend, appear before, or file statements with the Committee. Written statements must be filed before the meeting, or within 10 days after the meeting. Dated: January 11, 2008. By direction of the Secretary. E. Philip Riggin Committee Management Officer. [FR Doc. 08-126 Filed 1-16-08; 8:45 am]
Connectionstraces to 11
Traces to 11 documents
U.S. Code
9 references not yet in our index
- 5 CFR 1320.10
- 29 CFR 2570
- 29 CFR 2520.104
- 29 CFR 2550.408
- 17 CFR 270.10
- 29 CFR 2510.3-21(c)
- 17 CFR 240.12
- 17 CFR 240.10
- Pub. L. 92-463
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30-Day Notice of Information Collection Under Review: Extension of a currently approved collection: Police Public Contact Survey
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