Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Extension:

Rule 23c-3 and Form N-23c-3

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 (the “Commission”) is soliciting comments on the collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) for extension and approval.

Rule 23c-3 (17 CFR 270.23c-3) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) permits a registered closed-end investment company (“closed-end fund” or “fund”) that meets certain requirements to repurchase common stock of which it is the issuer from shareholders at periodic intervals, pursuant to repurchase offers made to all holders of the stock. The rule enables these funds to offer their shareholders a limited ability to resell their shares in a manner that previously was available only to open-end investment company shareholders.

There have been recent regulatory developments put forth by the Commission that will provide shareholders of closed-end funds with additional benefits. Effective August 1, 2021, rule 23c-3 will be amended by including a new subparagraph (e) that will permit a fund that relies on rule 23c-3 to register an indefinite amount of securities, under Section 24 of the Investment Company Act upon the effectiveness of a fund's registration statement. In addition, concurrent with the implementation of rule 23c-3(e), the Commission adopted an amendment to rule 24f-2 under the Investment Company Act, permitting closed-end funds to compute registration fees on an annual net basis. The Commission's intent in proposing and adopting rules 23c-3(e) and 24f-2(a) respectively, was to avoid the possibility a closed-end fund of inadvertently selling more shares than it had registered. These revisions to rule 23c-3 do not impose additional collections of information.

Notwithstanding these recent regulatory developments, a closed-end fund that relies on rule 23c-3 must send shareholders a notification that contains specified information each time the fund makes a repurchase offer (on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis, or, for certain funds, on a discretionary basis not more often than every two years). The fund also must file copies of the shareholder notification with the Commission (electronically through the Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”)) on Form N-23c-3, a filing that provides certain information about the fund and the type of offer the fund is making. The fund must describe in its annual report to shareholders the fund's policy concerning repurchase offers and the results of any repurchase offers made during the reporting period. The fund's board of directors must adopt written procedures designed to ensure that the fund's investment portfolio is sufficiently liquid to meet its repurchase obligations and other obligations under the rule. The board periodically must review the composition of the fund's portfolio and change the liquidity procedures as necessary. The fund also must file copies of advertisements and other sales literature with the Commission as if it were an open-end investment company subject to Section 24 of the Investment Company Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-24) and the rules that implement Section 24. Rule 24b-3 under the Investment Company Act (17 CFR 270.24b-3), however, exempts the fund from that requirement if the materials are filed instead with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

The requirement that the fund send a notification to shareholders of each offer is intended to ensure that a fund provides material information to shareholders about the terms of each offer. The requirement that copies be sent to the Commission is intended to enable the Commission to monitor the fund's compliance with the notification requirement. The requirement that the shareholder notification be attached to Form N-23c-3 is intended to ensure that the fund provides basic information necessary for the Commission to process the notification and to monitor the fund's use of repurchase offers. The requirement that the fund describe its current policy on repurchase offers and the results of recent offers in the annual shareholder report is intended to provide shareholders current information about the fund's repurchase policies and its recent experience. The requirement that the board approve and review written procedures designed to maintain portfolio liquidity is intended to ensure that the fund has enough cash or liquid securities to meet its repurchase obligations, and that written procedures are available for review by shareholders and examination by the Commission. The requirement that the fund file advertisements and sales literature as if it were an open-end fund is intended to facilitate the review of these materials by the Commission or FINRA to prevent incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading disclosure about the special characteristics of a closed-end fund that makes periodic repurchase offers.

The Commission staff estimates that 60 funds make use of rule 23c-3 annually, including 32 funds that are relying upon rule 23c-3 for the first time. The Commission staff estimates that on average a fund spends 89 hours annually in complying with the requirements of the Rule and Form N-23c-3, with funds relying upon rule 23c-3 for the first time incurring an additional one-time burden of 28 hours. The Commission therefore estimates the total annual hour burden of the rule's and form's paperwork requirements to be 6,236 hours. In addition to the burden hours, the Commission staff estimates that the average yearly cost to each fund that relies on rule 23c-3 to print and mail repurchase offers to shareholders is about $32,744.13. The Commission estimates total annual cost is therefore about $1,964,647.

Estimates of average burden hours and costs are made solely for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and are not derived from a comprehensive or even representative survey or study of the costs of Commission rules and forms. Compliance with the collection of information requirements of the rule and form is mandatory only for those funds that rely on the rule in order to repurchase shares of the fund. The information provided to the Commission on Form N-23c-3 will not be kept confidential. 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 OMB control number.

Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted in writing within 60 days of this publication.

Please direct your written comments to David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.

All submissions should refer to File Number 270-373. This file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's internet website ( http://www.sec.gov ). All comments received will be posted without change; we do not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly.