# Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Extension: Rule 17a-3
*Upon Written Request, Copies Available From:* Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-2736
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (“PRA”) (44 U.S.C. 3501 *et seq.* ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information provided for in Rule 17a-3 (17 CFR 240.17a-3), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a *et seq.* ).
Rule 17a-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 establishes minimum standards with respect to business records that broker-dealers registered with the Commission must make and keep current. These records are maintained by the broker-dealer (in accordance with a separate rule), so they can be used by the broker-dealer and reviewed by Commission examiners, as well as other regulatory authority examiners, during inspections of the broker-dealer.
The collections of information included in Rule 17a-3 are necessary to enable Commission, self-regulatory organization (“SRO”), and state examiners to conduct effective and efficient examinations to determine whether broker-dealers are complying with relevant laws, rules, and regulations. If broker-dealers were not required to create these baseline, standardized records, Commission, SRO, and state examiners could be unable to determine whether broker-dealers are in compliance with the Commission's antifraud and anti-manipulation rules, financial responsibility program, and other Commission, SRO, and State laws, rules, and regulations.
As of December 31, 2021 there were 3,528 broker-dealers registered with the Commission. The Commission estimates that these broker-dealer respondents incur a total hour burden of approximately 8,342,195 hours per year to comply with Rule 17a-3.
In addition, Rule 17a-3 contains ongoing operation and maintenance costs for broker-dealers, including the cost of postage to provide customers with account information, and costs for equipment and systems development. The Commission estimates that the total cost burden associated with Rule 17a-3 would be approximately $105,320,999 per year.
Rule 17a-3 does not contain record retention requirements. Compliance with the rule is mandatory. The required records are available only to the staffs of the Commission, self-regulatory organizations of which the broker-dealer is a member, and the states during examination, inspections and investigations.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
The public may view the background documentation for this information collection at the following website, *www.reginfo.gov.* Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be sent by November 7, 2022 to (i) *www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain* and (ii) David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an email to: *[email protected].*
Dated: October 3, 2022.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Deputy Secretary.