Quiero saber acerca de...

68320

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 228 / Wednesday, December 1, 2021 / Proposed Rules
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with PROPOSALS2

baseline for its economic analysis of these amendments? How many brokerdealers are maintaining separate recordkeeping systems for business and regulatory purposes? How many brokerdealers and SBS Entities affected by the proposed amendments have electronic recordkeeping systems that would meet the proposed audit-trail requirement?
2. Has the Commission accurately characterized the costs and benefits of proposed amendments? If not, why not?
Should any of the costs or benefits be modified? What, if any, other costs or benefits should the Commission take into account? If possible, please offer ways of estimating these costs and benefits. What additional considerations can the Commission use to estimate the costs and benefits of the proposed amendments?
3. Has the Commission accurately characterized the effects on competition, efficiency, and capital formation arising from the proposed amendments? If not, why not?
4. Has the Commission accurately characterized the economic effects of the above alternatives? For example, has the Commission accurately characterized the economic effects of the alternative requiring prudentially regulated SBS Entities to meet the proposed electronic recordkeeping system requirements? If not, why not?
Should any of the costs or benefits be modified? What, if any, other costs or benefits should the Commission take into account?
5. Are there other reasonable alternatives to the proposed amendments? What are the economic effects of any other alternatives?
6. Are there data sources or data sets that can help the Commission refine its estimates of the costs and benefits associated with the proposed amendments? If so, please identify them.
V. Paperwork Reduction Act Certain provisions of the rule amendments proposed in this release would contain a new collection of information within the meaning of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
PRA.156 The Commission is submitting the proposed rule amendments and proposed new rules to the Office of Management and Budget OMB for review and approval in accordance with the PRA and its implementing regulations.157 An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it 156 See 157 See
44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
44 U.S.C. 3507; 5 CFR 1320.11.

VerDate Sep<11>2014

17:28 Nov 30, 2021

Jkt 256001

displays a currently valid OMB control number.158 The titles for the collections of information are:
1 Rule 17a4Records to be preserved by certain brokers and dealers OMB control number 32350279; and 2 Rule 18a6Records to be preserved by certain security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants OMB control number 32350751.
The burden estimates contained in this section do not include any other possible costs or economic effects beyond the burdens required to be calculated for PRA purposes.
A. Summary of Collections of Information 1. Proposed Amendments to Rules 17a 4f and 18a6e Rule 17a4 sets forth record preservation requirements applicable to broker-dealers, including broker-dealers also registered as SBSDs or MSBSPs.159
Rule 18a6 sets forth record preservation requirements applicable to SBS Entities that are not dually registered as broker-dealers.160 The Commission is proposing to amend Rules 17a4f 161 and 18a6e,162
which prescribe requirements for broker-dealers and SBS Entities, respectively, that elect to preserve records electronically to comply with the record preservation requirements of Rules 17a4 and 18a6, respectively.
The proposed amendments to Rule 17a4f would add the audit-trail alternative to the current WORM
requirement.163 The amendments to Rule 18a6e would add a requirement that electronic recordkeeping systems used by nonbank SBS Entities to comply with the record preservation requirements of Rule 18a6 must meet either the audit-trail or WORM
requirement.164
Rule 17a4f currently requires a broker-dealer to store separately from 158 See
5 CFR 1320.11l.
17 CFR 240.17a4. As stated above, the term broker-dealer for the purposes of this release includes broker-dealers that are also registered as SBSDs or MSBSPs.
160 See 17 CFR 240.18a6. As stated above, the term SBS Entity for the purposes of this release refers to SBSDs and MSBSPs that are not also registered as broker-dealers.
161 See Rule 17a4f setting forth the electronic record preservation requirements for brokerdealers.
162 See Rule 18a6e setting forth the electronic record preservation requirements for SBS Entities.
163 See section II.D. of this release discussing these proposed amendments.
164 As defined above, the term nonbank SBS
Entity refers to an SBS Entity that does not have a prudential regulator and the term bank SBS
Entity refers to an SBS Entity that has a prudential regulator.
159 See
PO 00000

Frm 00022

Fmt 4701

Sfmt 4702

the original, on any medium acceptable under Rule 17a4, a duplicate copy of a record for the requisite time period.
Similarly, Rule 18a6e currently requires that an SBS Entity store separately from the original a duplicate copy of a record stored on the electronic storage system for the requisite time period. These current provisions require broker-dealers and SBS Entities to maintain a second copy of a record. The Commission is proposing amendments to both of these paragraphs to require the broker-dealer and the SBS Entity to have a backup set of records when records are preserved on an electronic recordkeeping system.165 Under the proposal, the broker-dealer or SBS
Entity would need to have a second electronic recordkeeping system.
Rule 17a4f currently requires that, for every broker-dealer exclusively using electronic storage media for some or all of its record preservation, at least one third party, who has access to and the ability to download information from the broker-dealers electronic storage media to any acceptable medium under Rule 17a4, must file with the DEA for the broker-dealer certain undertakings that the third party will provide access to the broker-dealers electronic records and provide them to the Commission and other securities regulators if requested. The proposed amendments to Rule 17a4f would eliminate the third-party access and undertakings requirements and replace them with a requirement that a senior officer of the broker-dealer have the access and provide the necessary undertakings.166 Rule 18a6e currently does not have third-party access and undertakings requirements; the proposed amendments to the rule would add senior officer access and undertakings requirements analogous to that of Rule 17a4f, as proposed to be amended.167
The Commission is proposing to no longer impose the requirements for electronic recordkeeping systems in paragraph e2 of Rule 18a6, as proposed to be amended, on bank SBS
Entities.168 However, the other provisions of paragraph e of Rule 18a 6, as proposed to be amended, would continue to apply to all SBS Entities.
The Commission is proposing to move the requirements for broker-dealers using micrographic media to new 165 See section II.E. of this release discussing these proposed amendments.
166 Id.
167 Id.
168 See section II.D. of this release discussing these proposed amendments.

E:FRFM01DEP2.SGM

01DEP2