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Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549.

Extension:

Rule 11Ab2-1 and Form SIP, SEC File No. 270-23, OMB Control No. 3235-0043.

Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange Commission Start Printed Page 21002(“Commission”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below.

Rule 11Ab2-1 (Form of Application and Amendments) and Form SIP establish the procedures by which a Securities Information Processor (“SIP”) files and amends its SIP registration form. The information filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 11Ab2-1 and Form SIP is designed to provide the Commission with the information necessary to make the required findings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) before granting the SIP's application for registration. In addition, the requirement that a SIP file an amendment to correct any inaccurate information is designed to assure that the Commission has current, accurate information with respect to the SIP. This information is also made available to members of the public.

Only exclusive SIPs are required to register with the Commission. An exclusive SIP is a SIP that engages on an exclusive basis on behalf of any national securities exchange or registered securities association, or any national securities exchange or registered securities association which engages on an exclusive basis on its own behalf, in collecting, processing, or preparing for distribution or publication, any information with respect to (i) transactions or quotations on or effected or made by means of any facility of such exchange or (ii) quotations distributed or published by means of any electronic quotation system operated by such association. The federal securities laws require that before the Commission may approve the registration of an exclusive SIP, it must make certain mandatory findings. It takes a SIP applicant approximately 400 hours to prepare documents, which include sufficient information to enable the Commission to make those findings. Currently, there are only two exclusive SIPs registered with the Commission: The Securities Information Automation Corporation (“SIAC”) and The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (“Nasdaq”). SIAC and Nasdaq are required to keep the information on file with the Commission current, which entails filing a form SIP annually to update information. Accordingly, the annual reporting and recordkeeping burden for Rule 11Ab2-1 and Form SIP is 400 hours. This annual reporting and recordkeeping burden does not include the burden hours or cost of amending a Form SIP because the Commission has already overstated the compliance burdens by assuming that the Commission will receive one initial registration pursuant to Rule 11Ab2-1 on Form SIP a year.

Rule 11Ab2-1 and Form SIP do not impose a retention period for any recordkeeping requirements. Completing and filing Form SIP is mandatory before an entity may become an exclusive SIP. Except in cases where confidential treatment is requested by an applicant and granted by the Commission pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act and the rules of the Commission thereunder, information provided in the Form SIP will be routinely available for public inspection. Please note that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid control number.

Written comments regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503; and (ii) Michael E. Bartell, Associate Executive Director, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.

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