users that the exhibits should not be relied on in making investment
decisions. Accordingly, we are requiring, as proposed, that this
disclosure be included in the exhibits submitted pursuant to the
voluntary program as a tagged data element,\196\ consistent with how
the cautionary disclosure is presented in risk/return summary exhibits
under the current voluntary program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \195\ Rule 401(d)(1)(ii) of Regulation S-T [17 CFR
232.401(d)(1)(ii)].
    \196\ See rule 401(d)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

H. Compliance Date

    The rules require all mutual funds to submit interactive data with
any registration statement or post-effective

amendment on Form N-1A that includes or amends risk/return summary
information and with any form of prospectus filed pursuant to rule
497(c) or (e) under the Securities Act that contains risk/return
summary information that varies from the registration statement.\197\
The first required submissions will be for initial registration
statements and post-effective amendments that are annual updates to
effective registration statements \198\ and that become effective after
January 1, 2011. Further, no mutual fund is required to comply with the
provision to submit a tagged risk/return summary exhibit with any form
of prospectus filed pursuant to rule 497(c) or (e) under the Securities
Act until that fund has first submitted an exhibit with its
registration statement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \197\ See General Instruction C.3.(g) to Form N-1A.
    \198\ See supra note 11 and accompanying text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the Proposing Release, we asked for comment on an anticipated
compliance date that would require submissions for initial registration
statements and post-effective amendments that are annual updates to
effective registration statements and that become effective after
December 31, 2009. Commenters generally objected to this compliance
date, asserting that adoption of the requirement to tag risk/return
summary information is premature, given that the Commission's pending
Summary Prospectus Initiative and ETF Initiative would change the
required information in the risk/return summary.\199\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \199\ See supra note 69 and accompanying text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commenters also asserted that the proposed schedule for
implementation of interactive data tagging should be delayed because it
did not allow mutual funds sufficient time to resolve outstanding
technical issues or to review the various options for compliance with
the rule.\200\ Others asserted that more information is needed to be
collected from the current voluntary program, including costs and
benefits.\201\ Two commenters supported phasing in the interactive data
requirements based on the size of a mutual fund's total net assets,
with larger funds becoming subject to the rules first.\202\ Finally,
commenters also noted that implementing tagging of the current risk/
return summary is premature given that the risk/return summary and the
taxonomy could potentially change as a result of the Summary Prospectus
Initiative and the ETF Initiative.\203\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \200\ See letters of Federated, ICI, and Oppenheimer.
    \201\ See letters of Federated, ICI, and Schnase.
    \202\ See letters of Data Communiqu[eacute] and Schnase.
    \203\ See letter of ICI, Oppenheimer, T. Rowe Price, and
Vanguard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    While we believe that these comments warrant a change in the
compliance date to ensure funds have sufficient time to prepare their
first risk/return summary submissions in interactive data format, they
do not justify a substantial delay in implementation of this
initiative. First, as we discussed above, we recently adopted final
amendments to Form N-1A in the Summary Prospectus Adopting
Release,\204\ and, therefore, do not believe those commenter concerns
warrant delaying implementation of this tagged risk/return summary
information.\205\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \204\ See supra notes 69 and 70 and accompanying text.
    \205\ These amendments were adopted on November 19, 2008. See
supra note 69, and Summary Prospectus Adopting Release, supra note
28.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Second, for the reasons we discussed in Section II.A., we believe
that the compliance date we are adopting will allow mutual funds
sufficient time to prepare risk/return summary information in
interactive data format. As we noted previously, XBRL U.S. has updated
the list of tags to reflect our most recent revisions to mutual fund
risk/return disclosure requirements, and has submitted this list for
public comment, after which it will be submitted for acknowledgment to
XBRL International. This process should be completed by the end of
January 2009. Therefore, we believe that the list of tags for risk/
return summary information is now sufficiently advanced, to require
that mutual funds provide their risk/return summary information in
interactive data format. Further, as discussed above, over the last
three years the Commission has gained experience with interactive data
in the voluntary program covering both mutual fund risk/return and
financial statement information.
    We do, however, recognize that requiring mutual funds to tag their
risk/return summary information at the same time that they are revising
their prospectuses for the recent amendments to Form N-1A in the
Summary Prospectus Adopting Release could result in an unnecessary
burden. For that reason, we are making a modification to the compliance
date so that mutual funds have an additional year before they are
required to submit tagged risk/return summary information. This period
of almost two years should provide funds with sufficient time to
prepare the amended disclosures and interactive data submissions based
on those disclosures.
    While the requirements we recently adopted for interactive
submission of financial data include a schedule of tiered
implementation, we believe that mutual fund investors have an important
interest in having access to interactive risk/return data from all
funds concurrently. Therefore, we are adopting, as proposed, a single
compliance date for all mutual funds. We expect that most mutual funds
that are part of smaller fund families, which generally are
disproportionately affected by regulatory costs, will be able to
provide their risk/return summary information in interactive data
format without undue effort or expense. While interactive data
reporting involves changes in reporting procedures mostly in the
initial reporting periods, we expect that these changes will provide
efficiencies in future periods. As a result, there may be potential
future net savings to the mutual fund, particularly if interactive data
become integrated into the mutual fund's disclosure process. While we
recognize that requiring interactive data risk/return summary
information will likely result in start-up expenses for all mutual fund
families, we expect that both software and third-party services will be
available to help meet the needs of mutual fund families, including
meeting the unique needs of smaller mutual fund families.
    We are sensitive to concerns expressed by some commenters that
undue expense and burden may accompany the adoption of required
interactive data reporting.\206\ We believe that the extended
compliance date and the proposed 15-business day period for making
interactive data submissions seem to alleviate these concerns.\207\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \206\ See letters of ICI, Schnase, and Starkman.
    \207\ We discuss more fully supra at Section II.F liability
related to required submissions of interactive data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the rules we are adopting, the voluntary program is being
modified to allow for participation by mutual funds with respect to
risk/return summary information up until January 1, 2011, but continue
to permit investment companies to participate with respect to financial
statement information thereafter. Investment companies may submit their
tagged portfolio holdings information, pursuant to the rules we are
adopting, at any time after the effective date of these rules, July 15,
2009. This effective date was chosen to coincide with the release of an
updated EDGAR Filer Manual which will

incorporate the new list of tags for portfolio holdings information.
    We intend to monitor implementation and, if necessary, make
appropriate adjustments to the adopted amendments.

III. Paperwork Reduction Act

A. Reporting and Burden Estimate

    Certain provisions of the rule and form amendments contain
``collection of information'' requirements within the meaning of the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA'').\208\ The titles for the
collections of information are: (1) ``Mutual Fund Interactive Data''
(OMB Control No. 3235-0642) and (2) ``Voluntary XBRL-Related
Documents'' (OMB Control No. 3235-0611). We published notice soliciting
comments on the collection of information requirements in the release
proposing the amendments \209\ and submitted the proposed collections
of information to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for
review and approval in accordance with 44 U.S.C. 3507(d) and 5 CFR
1320.11.\210\ OMB has assigned a control number to the collection of
information for mutual fund interactive data. We received four comments
on the collection of information requirements \211\ and have revised
the estimated reporting and cost burdens of the rule and form
amendments, as discussed below. An agency may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond to, an information collection
unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Because we
have modified our proposals as described above, we are revising the
burden estimate for the Mutual Fund Interactive Data collection of
information. We have submitted a revised request to OMB.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \208\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
    \209\ See Proposing Release, supra note 9, 73 FR at 35459.
    \210\ See Proposing Release, supra note 9, 73 FR at 35457-59.
    \211\ See letters of Confluence, ICI, Schnase, and Starkman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The title for the new collection of information for submitting
risk/return summary information in interactive data format that the
amendments establish is ``Mutual Fund Interactive Data''. This
collection of information relates to already existing regulations and
forms adopted under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the
Investment Company Act that set forth disclosure requirements for
mutual funds and other issuers. The amendments require mutual funds to
submit their risk/return summary information in interactive data format
and post it on their Web sites, if any, in interactive data form. The
specified risk/return summary information already is and will continue
to be required to be submitted to the Commission in traditional format
under existing disclosure requirements. Compliance with the amendments
is mandatory beginning with initial registration statements and post-
effective amendments that are annual updates to effective registration
statements that become effective after January 1, 2011.\212\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \212\ See supra Section II.H.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The title for the collection of information for submitting
portfolio holdings in interactive data format is ``Voluntary XBRL-
Related Documents''. The amendments will permit investment companies
that are registered under the Investment Company Act, business
development companies, and other entities that report under the
Exchange Act and prepare their financial statements in accordance with
Article 6 of Regulation S-X to submit exhibits containing a tagged
schedule of portfolio holdings without having to submit other financial
information in interactive data format. Compliance with these
amendments is voluntary.

B. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data

    Form N-1A (OMB Control No. 3235-0307) under the Securities Act and
the Investment Company Act \213\ is used by mutual funds to register
under the Investment Company Act and to offer their securities under
the Securities Act. The information required by the new collection of
information, corresponds to the risk/return summary information now
required by Form N-1A and is required to appear in exhibits to Form N-
1A, exhibits to prospectuses with risk/return summary information that
varies from the registration statement, and on mutual funds' Web sites.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \213\ 17 CFR 239.15A; 17 CFR 274.11A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In the Proposing Release, we estimated that each mutual fund would
submit one interactive data document as an exhibit to a registration
statement or a post-effective amendment thereto on Form N-1A that
includes or amends information provided in response to Items 2 or
3.\214\ We estimated in the Proposing Release that interactive data
filers would require an average of approximately 13 burden hours to tag
risk/return summary information in the first year, and the same task in
subsequent years would require an average of approximately 11
hours.\215\ Therefore, we estimated the average annual burden over a
three-year period to be approximately 12 hours.\216\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \214\ This information is now contained in Items 2, 3, and 4.
See supra note 61.
    \215\ The average burden hours for the first and subsequent
submissions were calculated using data collected from a voluntary
program participant questionnaire. See infra Section IV.
    \216\ (13.33 hours for the first submission + 11.275 hours for
the second submission + 11.275 hours for the third submission) / 3
years = approximately 12 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In response to commenters' concerns, however, we are modifying our
rules to include changes to risk/return summary information that mutual
funds are permitted to make pursuant to rule 497 under the Securities
Act.\217\ Based on a limited, random, non-statistical survey by
Commission staff of filings made pursuant to rule 497, we estimate that
5% of mutual funds, or approximately 443 funds,\218\ will make changes
to risk/return summary information in filings submitted pursuant to
rule 497. Based on estimates of 8,856 mutual funds each submitting one
interactive data document as an exhibit to a registration statement or
post-effective amendment thereto \219\ and 443 mutual funds submitting
an additional interactive data document as an exhibit to a filing
pursuant to rule 497, each incurring 12 hours per year on average, we
estimate that, in the aggregate, interactive data adoption will result
in an additional 111,588 burden hours for all mutual funds for each of
the first three years.\220\ Converted into dollars, this amounts to
approximately $23,768,244.\221\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \217\ See supra notes 90 through 95 and accompanying text.
    \218\ 5% x 8,856 mutual funds = approximately 443 mutual funds.
    \219\ This estimate is based on an analysis by the Division of
Investment Management staff of publicly available data.
    \220\ (8,856 mutual funds + 443 mutual funds) x 12 incremental
burden hours per mutual fund = 111,588 burden hours.
    \221\ This cost increase is estimated using an estimated hourly
wage rate of $213.00 ((111,588 burden hours) x ($213.00 hourly wage
rate) = $23,768,244 total incremental internal cost). The estimated
wage figure is based on published rates for compliance attorneys and
programmer analysts, modified to account for an 1800-hour work-year
and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee
benefits, and overhead, yielding effective hourly rates of $270 and
$194, respectively. See Securities Industry and Financial Markets
Association, Report on Management & Professional Earnings in the
Securities Industry 2007 (Sept. 2007) (``SIFMA Report''). The
estimated wage rate was further based on the estimate that
compliance attorneys would account for one quarter of the hours
worked and senior system analysts would account for the remaining
three quarters, resulting in a weighted wage rate of $213.00 per
hour (($270 x .25) + ($194 x .75)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter challenged the estimates provided in the Proposing
Release, asserting that the sample of voluntary program participants is
too small and consists mostly of large fund

complexes.\222\ We note that the 22 participants in the voluntary
program at that time included both larger and smaller funds, and,
therefore, the estimates derived from our experiences with this program
reflect burdens incurred by funds of varying sizes.\223\ Of these 22
funds, six funds, representing a range of fund complex sizes, provided
data in response to the voluntary program questionnaire concerning
internal and external costs of preparing and submitting interactive
risk/return summary information.\224\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \222\ See letter of Schnase.
    \223\ As we noted above in Section I.A., to date 25 funds have
participated in the voluntary program. However, at the time of our
Proposing Release, only 22 funds had submitted interactive data
risk/return summary information.
    \224\ The average burden hours for the first and subsequent
submissions were calculated using data collected from six responses
to a voluntary program participant questionnaire from mutual funds
that participated in the voluntary program. See infra Section IV.A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We further estimate, as we did in the Proposing Release, that
mutual funds will require an average of approximately 1 burden hour to
post interactive data to their Web sites. Based on estimates of 8,856
mutual funds posting interactive data, each incurring 1 burden hour per
year on average, we estimate that, in the aggregate, adoption of Web
site posting requirements will result in an additional 8,856 burden
hours for all mutual funds.\225\ Converted into dollars, this amounts
to approximately $2,214,000.\226\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \225\ 8,856 mutual funds x 1 burden hour per mutual fund = 8,856
burden hours.
    \226\ ($250 x 1 hour x 8,856 mutual funds). This cost estimate
is based on informal discussions with a limited number of persons
believed to be generally knowledgeable about preparing, submitting,
and posting interactive data. See infra Section IV.A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter asserted that the Commission's cost estimates may be
vastly understated because they omit the much larger cost of converting
fund Web sites to XBRL compatibility.\227\ This commenter did not
provide any specific cost estimates to support this assertion.
Complying with the Web site posting requirement, however, does not
require conversion of the fund's Web site infrastructure.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \227\ See letter of Starkman.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We also estimate, as we did in the Proposing Release, that software
and consulting services will be used by mutual funds for an increase of
approximately $802 per mutual fund.\228\ Based on the estimate of 8,856
mutual funds using software and consulting services at an annual cost
of $802 we estimate that, in the aggregate, the total external costs to
the industry will be approximately $7,098,970.\229\ While one commenter
asserted that these estimates do not include professional costs from
outside accountants and lawyers,\230\ we note that this estimate does
reflect the external cost data provided in response to the voluntary
program questionnaire. Respondents to the questionnaire universally
indicated that they did not use the services of outside accountants in
preparing their interactive data submissions. A few of the respondents
indicated that they used the services of an outside attorney in
preparing their interactive data submissions, however, only one
respondent indicated a de minimis expense for such services. A few
respondents who did not use the services of an outside attorney for
their voluntary filing did indicate they would work with an outside
attorney to prepare their interactive data submission upon adoption of
our rule amendments. These costs were reflected in our estimates in the
Proposing Release.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \228\ For purposes of this estimate, we assumed that the largest
50 fund complexes will develop software in-house incurring costs of
$125,000 in the first year. Assuming that the largest 50 fund
complexes will develop software for use in all of their funds, and
that their funds encompass 80% of the number of funds (7,085), then
the average first year cost for those funds will be ($125,000 x 50)/
7,085 = $882. Therefore, for those funds using software developed
internally, the average 3 year cost will be approximately $827 ($882
in the first year + $800 in the second year + $800 in the third
year) / 3 years = approximately $827. The average 3 year cost for
those funds that use commercial software will be $700 ($500 in the
first year + $800 in the second year + $800 in the third year) / 3
years = $700. Assuming 80% of funds incurred costs of $827 and 20%
of funds incurred costs of $700, the average software and consulting
cost per mutual fund will be approximately $802. These estimates
were derived from responses to a voluntary program questionnaire.
See infra Section IV.A.
    \229\ 8,856 mutual funds x $802 = approximately $7,098,970.
    \230\ See letter of Schnase.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter also stated that costs for the voluntary program
participants were low because many fund groups received tagging
software and services at no cost, which the commenter anticipated would
not be the case upon the adoption of our rule amendments.\231\ We note,
however, that our survey data included information from funds that used
no-cost software and from one fund that created its own software in-
house at great expense.\232\ We believe our cost estimates provide an
adequate picture of the initial software expenditures for funds to
comply with our rule amendments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \231\ See letter of ICI.
    \232\ See infra note 252.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    One commenter asserted that automated tagging and filing processes
would reduce the risk and cost associated with manual processes.\233\
We agree that such software tools may help minimize both the burden on
respondents and the risk of errors in the collection process. While
this commenter noted that additional software tools would need to be
introduced in order to allow data to be identified and tagged at its
source, thereby automating the processing of the risk/return data, we
expect that the development of such tools is likely to be hastened by
mutual fund disclosure using interactive data. As noted
previously,\234\ there is a growing number of software applications
available to preparers and consumers that are designed to help make
interactive data increasingly useful to both retail and institutional
investors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \233\ See letter of Confluence.
    \234\ See supra Section II.E.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regulation C and Regulation S-T
    Regulation C (OMB Control No. 3235-0074) describes the procedures
to be followed in preparing and filing registration statements with the
Commission. Regulation S-T (OMB Control No. 3235-0424) specifies the
requirements that govern the electronic submission of documents. The
changes to these items that we are adopting will add and revise rules
under Regulations C and S-T. As we explained in the Proposing Release,
the additional collection of information burden that will result from
these changes, however, are included in Form N-1A, and we have
reflected the burden for these new requirements in the burden estimate
for the new collection of information ``Mutual Fund Interactive Data.''
The rules in Regulations C and S-T do not impose any separate burden.

C. Changes to the Voluntary Program

    We are decreasing the burden associated with the existing
collection of information for Voluntary XBRL-Related Documents to
reflect the amendments. Mutual funds will no longer be able to submit
risk/return summary information in interactive data format through the
voluntary program after the compliance date for the mandatory rules.
    When we adopted the amendments to expand the voluntary program to
enable mutual funds voluntarily to submit risk/return summary
information in interactive data format, we estimated an increase to the
existing collection of information for Voluntary XBRL-Related
Documents.\235\ We estimated that 10% of the approximately 545 fund
complexes that have mutual funds, or 55 fund complexes, would each
submit

documents containing tagged risk/return summary information for one
mutual fund.\236\ We further estimated that the initial creation of
tagged documents containing risk/return summary information would
require, on average, approximately 110 burden hours per mutual fund,
and the creation of such tagged documents in subsequent years would
require an average 10 burden hours per mutual fund. Because the PRA
estimates represent the average burden over a three-year period, we
estimated the average hour burden for the submission of tagged
documents containing risk/return summary information for one mutual
fund to be approximately 43 hours.\237\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \235\ See Risk/Return Voluntary Program Adopting Release, supra
note 32.
    \236\ In the case of a mutual fund with multiple series, our
estimate treated each series as a separate mutual fund.
    \237\ (110 hours in the first year + 10 hours in the second year
+ 10 hours in the third year) / 3 years = 43 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Based on our previous estimates of 55 participants submitting
tagged documents containing risk/return summary information for one
mutual fund once per year and incurring 43 hours per submission, we
estimated that, in the aggregate, the industry would incur an
additional 2,365 burden hours associated with the amendments.\238\ We
further estimated that 75% of this burden increase, or approximately
1,774 hours, would be borne internally by the mutual fund complexes. We
estimated that this internal burden increase converted to dollars would
amount to a total annual increase of internal costs of approximately
$393,828.\239\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \238\ 55 documents per year x 43 hours per submission = 2,365
hours.
    \239\ See note 82 of the Risk/Return Voluntary Program Adopting
Release, supra note 32.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We also estimated that 25% of the burden, or approximately 591
hours, would be outsourced to external professionals and consultants
retained by the mutual fund complex at an average cost of $256.00 per
hour for a total annual increase of approximately $151,296.\240\ In
addition, we estimated that the cost of licensing software would be
$333 per participant per year, for a total annual increase of
$18,315.\241\ Altogether, we estimated the total annual increase in
external costs related to the amendments would be $169,611.\242\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \240\ See note 83 of the Risk/Return Voluntary Program Adopting
Release, supra note 32.
    \241\ $333 per participant x 55 participants = $18,315.
    \242\ This annual total consisted of $151,296 in outside
professional costs plus $18,315 in software costs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Given that mutual funds will no longer be able to submit risk/
return summary information in interactive data format through the
voluntary program some time after adoption of the amendments, we will
reduce the internal hour burden associated with the voluntary program
by 1,774 hours and the internal cost burden by $393,828. We will also
reduce the external cost burden by $169,611.
    The amendments to the voluntary program also enable investment
companies that are registered under the Investment Company Act,
business development companies, and other entities that report under
the Exchange Act and prepare their financial statements in accordance
with Article 6 of Regulation S-X to submit exhibits containing a tagged
schedule of portfolio holdings without having to submit other financial
information in interactive data format. As with the current voluntary
program, volunteers can participate, without pre-approval, merely by
submitting Schedule I in interactive data format.
    One commenter stated that the cost estimates from the voluntary
program did not include many, or any, costs associated with tagging
data other than the risk/return summary, such as portfolio holdings
information.\243\ We note, however, that the hour and cost burdens for
voluntary interactive data submissions of portfolio holdings
information were discussed separately from the hour and cost burdens
for the submission of risk/return summary information in interactive
data format in the Proposing Release and also are discussed below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \243\ See letter of Schnase.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We estimate that 20 registrants will choose to submit a schedule of
portfolio holdings in interactive data format.\244\ We believe that
investment companies that are registered under the Investment Company
Act, business development companies, and other entities that report
under the Exchange Act and prepare their financial statements in
accordance with Article 6 of Regulation S-X will participate, given the
flexibility provided by a new option to submit exhibits containing just
portfolio holdings information in interactive data format.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \244\ This estimate is based on the current level of
participation in the voluntary program, in which 25 funds have
submitted interactive risk/return summary information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Submission of portfolio holdings information in interactive data
format will not affect the burden of preparing the registrants'
traditional format filings. In order to provide portfolio holdings
information in interactive data format, a participating registrant will
have to tag Schedule I and submit the resulting interactive data file
as an exhibit to its filing on Form N-CSR or Form N-Q.\245\ A list of
tags that could be used to tag portfolio holdings is expected to be
finalized by the end of January 2009. Based on our experience with
mutual funds that have submitted risk/return summary information in the
current voluntary program, we estimate that the initial creation of
portfolio holdings information in interactive data format will require,
on average, approximately 12 burden hours per registrant,\246\ and the
creation of such information in interactive data format in subsequent
years will require an average of 10 burden hours per registrant.\247\
Because the PRA estimates represent the average burden over a three-
year period, we estimate the average hour burden for the submission of
portfolio holdings information in interactive data format for one
registrant to be approximately 11 hours.\248\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \245\ Form N-CSR [17 CFR 249.331; 17 CFR 274.128]; Form N-Q [17
CFR 249.332; 17 CFR 274.130].
    \246\ Mutual funds submitting risk/return summary information in
our voluntary program indicated that an initial submission in the
voluntary program took approximately 13 hours of labor. Given that
the submission of portfolio holdings in interactive data format is
less complex than the submission of risk/return summary information
in interactive data format but potentially requires the tagging of
many more individual items, we estimate that the initial creation of
interactive data files containing portfolio holdings information
will require, on average, approximately 12 burden hours per
volunteer.
    \247\ Mutual funds submitting risk/return summary information in
the current voluntary program indicated that each set of
submissions, after the initial set, would take approximately 11
burden hours, or 2 hours less than the initial submission. We
estimate that the reduction in burden hours for subsequent
submissions of portfolio holdings information in interactive data
format will be a similar 2 hour reduction, or approximately 10
burden hours per volunteer.
    \248\ (12 hours in the first year + 10 hours in the second year
+ 10 hours in the third year) / 3 years = approximately 11 hours.
While the PRA requires an estimate based on a hypothetical three
years of participation, a registrant, as noted earlier, could
participate in the voluntary program by submitting portfolio
holdings information in interactive data format over a shorter
period or even just once as the registrant chooses.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Based on the estimate of 20 registrants submitting interactive data
files containing portfolio holdings information once each year and
incurring 11 hours per submission we estimate that, in the aggregate,
the industry will incur an additional 220 burden hours associated with
the proposed amendments.\249\ We estimate

that this internal burden increase converted to dollars will amount to
approximately $47,000.\250\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \249\ 20 documents per year x 11 hours per submission = 220
hours. We note that mutual funds submit portfolio holdings
information to the Commission four times per year. However, for
purposes of our analysis, we estimate that mutual funds choosing to
participate in the voluntary program will submit portfolio holdings
information in interactive data format once each year.
    \250\ This cost increase is estimated by multiplying the
increase in annual internal hour burden (220) by the estimated
hourly wage rate of $213.00. See supra note 221.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We also estimate that external professionals and consultants will
be retained by the registrant for an increase of approximately
$600.00.\251\ It is our understanding that annual software licensing
costs generally would be included in the cost of hiring external
professionals and consultants.\252\ Based on the estimate of 20
registrants retaining external professionals and consultants at an
annual cost of $600.00 we estimate that, in the aggregate, the total
external cost to the industry will be $12,000.\253\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \251\ ($100.00 in the first year + $800.00 in the second year +
$800.00 in the third year) / 3 years = approximately $600.00. Mutual
funds participating in our voluntary program for the submission of
risk/return summary information in interactive data format indicated
an initial external cost of $100.00 for the hiring of external
professionals and consultants and projected an annual cost of
$800.00 for external service providers going forward. The increase
going forward was due to the fact that two of the participants
indicated that each of their external service providers had waived
its fee for the initial submission.
    \252\ We note that one respondent spent over $100,000 internally
to develop software to submit risk/return summary information in
interactive data format. We did not include this number in our
calculations as this software was developed solely for purposes of
submitting risk/return summary information and not for submitting
financial information in interactive data format. See infra note
270.
    We also note that one commenter stated that our estimated costs
for interactive data software and services were low because many
fund groups received tagging software and services at no cost. See
supra note 231 and accompanying text.
    \253\ 20 registrants submitting interactive data files under the
voluntary program x $600.00 = $12,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As a result of the changes to the voluntary program, we therefore
estimate a total decrease in internal burden hours of approximately
1,600 \254\ and a total decrease in internal costs of approximately
$347,000.\255\ We further estimate a total decrease in external costs
of approximately $158,000.\256\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \254\ (1,774 hours for the removal of risk/return summary
information from the voluntary program - 220 hours for the
submission of schedule of portfolio holdings in interactive data
format = approximately 1,600 hours.)
    \255\ ($393,828 for the removal of risk/return summary
information from the voluntary program - $47,000 for the submission
of schedule of portfolio holdings in interactive data format =
approximately $347,000.)
    \256\ ($169,611 for the removal of risk/return summary
information from the voluntary program - $12,000 for the submission
of schedule of portfolio holdings in interactive data format =
approximately $158,000.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Cost/Benefit Analysis

A. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data

    The interactive data framework that we are adopting has the
potential to remove a barrier in the flow of information between mutual
funds and users of information that is conveyed through mutual fund
disclosures. This should enable less costly dissemination of
information and thereby improve the allocation of capital. The cost of
implementation will depend primarily on the costs of transition by
mutual funds to the new mode of reporting. The magnitudes of these
benefits and costs from any individual mutual fund's adoption of
interactive data reporting will depend on the number of other mutual
funds that also adopt and on the availability of supporting software
and other infrastructures that enable analysis of the information. To
the extent that submitted information allows investors to make
investment decisions based on market-wide comparison and analysis, the
value to the investors of the reported information tends to increase
with the total number of mutual funds adopting the regime. Likewise,
mutual funds' incentives to report their information using interactive
data depends on the interest level of the investors in this mode of
reporting. By mandating implementation, the rule will expand the
network of adopters and thereby create positive network externalities
of reported information for the investors.
    In the Proposing Release, we requested public comment and empirical
data regarding the costs and benefits of the amendments. Three
commenters generally expressed concern about the costs of implementing
the Commission's proposal and the uncertain nature of any cost
efficiencies or cost savings.\257\ One commenter stated that investors
will not be helped by the additional costs incurred by mutual funds as
a result of the proposal and that the required interactive disclosure
will be static and quickly outdated.\258\ None of these commenters
provided any specific quantitative data relating to cost estimates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \257\ See letters of Gilmore, ICI, and Schnase.
    \258\ See letter of Federated.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Benefits of Interactive Data Submissions and Web Site Posting
    The rules have the potential to benefit investors both directly and
by facilitating the exchange of information between mutual funds and
the third party information providers and other intermediaries who
receive and process mutual fund disclosures.
Information Access
    Benefits of the rulemaking accrue from the acceleration of market-
wide adoption of interactive data format reporting. The magnitudes of
the benefits thus depend on the value to investors of the new reporting
regime relative to the old reporting regime and on the extent to which
the mandated adoption speeds up the market-wide implementation.
    Requiring mutual funds to file their risk/return summary
information using the interactive data format enables investors, third-
party information providers, and the Commission staff to capture and
analyze that information more quickly and at a lower cost than is
possible using the same information provided in a static format.\259\
Even though the new regime does not require any new information to be
disclosed or reported, certain benefits accrue when mutual funds use an
interactive data format to report their risk/return summary
information. These include the following. Through interactive data,
what is currently static, text-based information can be dynamically
searched and analyzed, facilitating the comparison of mutual fund cost,
performance, and other information across multiple classes of the same
fund and across the more than 8,000 funds currently available. Any
investor with a computer has the ability to acquire and download data
that have generally been available only to intermediaries and third-
party analysts. For example, users of risk/return summary information
can download it directly into spreadsheets, analyze it using commercial
off-the-shelf software, or use it within investment models in other
software formats. Also, to the extent investors currently are required
to pay for access to mutual fund risk/return summary information that
has been extracted and reformatted into an interactive data format by
third-party sources, the availability of interactive data in Commission
filings will allow investors to avoid additional costs associated with
third-party sources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \259\ See supra Section II.A.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The magnitude of this informational benefit varies, however, with
the availability of sophisticated tools that will allow investors to
analyze the information. The growing development of software products
for users of interactive data is helping to make interactive data
increasingly useful to

both institutional and retail investors.\260\ For example, currently
there are many software providers and financial printers that are
developing interactive data viewers. We anticipate that these will
become widely available and increasingly accessible to investors. We
expect that the open standard feature of the interactive data format
will facilitate the development of applications, and software, and that
some of these applications may be made available to the public for free
or at a relatively low cost. The continued improvement in this software
will allow increasingly useful ways to view and analyze mutual fund
risk/return summary information to help investors make more well-
informed investment decisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \260\ See SEC's Office of Interactive Disclosure Urges Public
Comment as Interactive Data Moves Closer to Reality for Investors,
Securities and Exchange Commission Press Release, Dec. 5, 2007,
available at: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-253.htm.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interactive data also provides a significant opportunity for mutual
funds to automate their regulatory filings and business information
processing, with the potential to increase the speed, accuracy, and
usability of mutual fund disclosure. This reporting regime may in turn
reduce filing and processing costs.
    By enabling mutual funds to further automate their disclosure
processes, interactive data may eventually help funds improve the
timeliness of, and speed at which they generate information. For
example, with standardized interactive data tags, registration
statements may require less time for information gathering and review.
One commenter expressed some skepticism about the ability of
interactive data to create internal efficiencies that may ultimately
result in cost savings.\261\ We continue to believe, however, that
internal efficiencies may be one of several possible benefits of
interactive data tagging.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \261\ See letter of ICI.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A mutual fund that uses a standardized interactive data format at
earlier stages of its reporting cycle may also increase the accuracy of
its disclosure by reducing the need for repetitive data entry that
could introduce errors and enhancing the ability of a mutual fund's in-
house professionals to identify and correct errors in the fund's
registration statements filed in traditional electronic format. There
has been a growing development in both the number and capabilities of
software products and applications to assist mutual funds to tag their
risk/return summary information using interactive data helping make
interactive data increasingly useful.\262\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \262\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Mutual funds that automate their regulatory filings and business
information processing in a manner that facilitates their generation
and analysis of disclosures should, as a result, realize a reduction in
costs.
Market Efficiency
    The requirements may benefit investors by making financial markets
more efficient in regard to the following: \263\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \263\ We believe the benefits will stem primarily from the
requirement to submit interactive data to the Commission and the
Commission's disseminating that data. We also believe, however, that
the requirement that mutual funds with Web sites post the
interactive data required to be submitted would encourage its
widespread dissemination thereby contributing to lower access costs
for users and the related benefits described.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Capital formation as a result of mutual funds being in a
better position to attract shareholders because of greater (less
costly) awareness on the part of investors of mutual fund risk/return
summary information; and
     Capital allocation as a result of investors' being better
able to allocate capital among those mutual funds seeking it because of
interactive data reporting's facilitating innovations in efficient
communication of mutual fund risk/return summary information.
More Efficient Capital Formation
    An increase in the efficiency of capital formation is a benefit
that may accrue to the extent that interactive data reduces some of the
information barriers that make it costly for mutual funds to find
appropriate sources of new investors. In particular, smaller mutual
fund complexes are expected to benefit from enhanced exposure to
investors. If interactive data risk/return summary reporting increases
the availability, or reduces the cost of collecting and analyzing,
mutual fund risk/return summary data, as anticipated, then there could
be improved coverage of mutual funds in smaller fund complexes by third
party information providers and commercial data vendors.
    At present, some mutual funds in smaller fund complexes do not
provide their data to third party information providers.\264\ This may
reduce the likelihood that their data is readily available to investors
who use commercially available products to assess mutual fund
performance. If interactive data reporting increases coverage of mutual
funds in smaller fund complexes by third-party information providers,
and this increases their exposure to investors, then lower search costs
for shareholders could result.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \264\ Analysis by Division of Investment Management staff based
on publicly available data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

More Efficient Capital Allocation
    An increase in the efficiency of capital allocation may accrue to
the extent that interactive data increase the quality of information by
reducing the cost to access, collect, and analyze mutual fund risk/
return summary information or improve the content of mutual fund-
reported information.\265\ An increase in quality and improvement in
content should enable investors to better allocate their capital among
mutual funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \265\ In the context of the discussion below, quality refers to
the ease with which end-users of risk/return summary information can
access, collect, and analyze the data. This issue is separate from
the content of mutual fund-reported information.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Information quality in mutual fund markets is likely to be higher
as a result of interactive data reporting, leading to more efficient
capital allocation. As a result of the improved utility of information,
investors may be able to evaluate various mutual funds, thereby
facilitating capital flow into their favored investment prospects.
    We believe that requiring mutual funds to provide interactive data
is likely to improve the quality of risk/return summary information
available to end users, and helps spur interactive data-related
innovation in the supply of mutual fund comparative products, resulting
from a potential increased competition among suppliers of such products
due to lower entry barriers as a result of lower data collection costs.
    However, we have considered competing views of the informational
consequences of interactive data. For example, a requirement to submit
interactive data information could decrease the marginal benefit of
collecting information and thus reduce the information quality to the
extent it reduces third-party incentives to facilitate access to,
collect, or analyze information. Assuming that markets efficiently
price the value of information, the amount of information accessed,
collected (or enhanced), and analyzed will be determined by the
marginal benefit of doing so.\266\ Lowering information collection
costs (through a requirement to submit interactive data information)
should

increase this benefit. If this is so, then there should be no
degradation in the level of information quality as a result of changes
in third-party provider behavior under an interactive data reporting
regime. However, if one competitor in the industry can subsidize its
operations through an alternative revenue stream, both quality and
competition may suffer.\267\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \266\ Also, we expect that because the rules require the use of
the XBRL interactive data standard, the open standard nature of XBRL
will facilitate the development of related software, some of which
may, as a result, be made available to the public for free or at a
relatively low cost and provide the public alternative ways to view
and analyze interactive data information.
    \267\ For illustration purposes only, assume that an Internet
service company develops an interactive data-based tool that easily
provides mutual fund risk/return summary information for free to all
subscribers, and it uses this product as a loss leader to increase
viewership and advertising revenue. If the data provided is of the
same quality as data provided through subscription to other
available commercial products, then there should be no informational
efficiency loss. However, if a data aggregator's providing
information that improves investor interpretation and goes beyond
risk/return summary information is possible, but no longer
profitable to produce for competitors without the subsidy, then
valuable information production may be lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Another potential information consequence of the requirements is
how the precision and comparability of the information disseminated by
data service providers may change because the interactive data
requirements will shift the source of data formatting that allows
aggregation and facilitates comparison and analysis from end-users to
mutual funds submitting interactive data. At present, data service
providers manually key risk/return summary information into a format
that allows aggregation. As a result, the data service provider makes
interpretive decisions on how to aggregate reported items so that they
can be compared across all mutual funds. Consequently, when a
subscriber of the commercial product offered by a data service provider
uses this aggregated data, it can expect consistent interpretation of
the reported items. In contrast, the requirement for mutual funds to
submit interactive data information will require mutual funds to
independently decide within the confines of applicable requirements
which ``tag'' best describes each item within the risk/return summary--
lessening the amount of interpretation required by data service
providers or end-users of the data. Once a standard tag is chosen,
comparison to other funds is straightforward. However, because mutual
funds have some discretion in how to select tags, and can extend the
taxonomy (create new tags) when an appropriate tag does not exist,
unique interpretations by each fund could result in reporting
differences from what current data service providers and other end-
users would have chosen. This view suggests that the fund-submitted
information disseminated by data service providers may be, on the one
hand, less comparable because they have not normalized it across mutual
funds but, on the other hand, more accurate because the risk of human
error in the manual keying and interpretation of filed information will
be eliminated and more precise because it will reflect decisions by the
mutual funds themselves. Replicating prior methods still will be
possible, however, because mutual funds continue to be required to file
risk/return summary information in traditional format. As a result,
nothing prohibits data service providers from continuing to provide
data in the same manner that they did before. Nonetheless, interactive
data benefits could diminish if other reporting formats are required
for clarification in data aggregation.
    The content of mutual fund-reported information may improve
because, as previously discussed, a mutual fund that uses a
standardized interactive data format at earlier stages of its
disclosure cycle may increase the accuracy of its disclosure. In
contrast, the content of mutual fund-reported information may improve
or decline to the extent that the interactive data process influences
what mutual funds disclose. While the requirements to submit and post
interactive data information are designed to be disclosure neutral, it
is possible they may affect what is disclosed.
2. Costs of Interactive Data Submissions and Web Site Posting
    The primary cost of the rule amendments is the cost of mutual
funds' implementation of the rule, which includes the costs of
submitting and posting interactive data. We discuss this cost element
extensively below. In addition, because the rules allow an increase in
the flow of risk/return summary information being reported directly to
third party information providers and investors, there will be a cost
of learning on the part of the investors in using and analyzing risk/
return summary information at the interactive data level.
    As for the cost of implementation of the rule, based on currently
available data, we estimate the average direct costs of submitting and
posting interactive data-formatted risk/return summary information for
all mutual funds under the proposed rules will, based on certain
assumptions, be as follows:

     Table--Estimated Direct Costs to Individual Funds of Submitting
       Interactive Data-Formatted Risk/Return Summary Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  First      Subsequent
                                               submission    submissions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparation \268\...........................        $2,600        $2,300
Software and consulting services \269\......  \270\ 20,600           800
Web site posting \271\......................           250           250
                                             ---------------------------
    Total cost..............................        23,450         3,350
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The above estimates are generated from a limited number of
voluntary program participant questionnaire responses. In particular,
these responses provided detail on the actual and projected costs of
preparing risk/return summary information in interactive data format
and for purchasing software or related filing agent services. A
detailed analysis of the costs associated with voluntary program
participation suggests that the estimated direct cost of submitting
risk/return summary information in interactive data format falls within
the range of $735.50 to $127,500 per fund for the first
submission.\272\ This cost reflects expenditures on interactive data-
related software, consulting or filing agent services used, and the
market rate for all internal labor hours spent (including training) to
prepare, review, and submit the first interactive data format risk/
return summary information. The future experiences of individual mutual
funds regarding risk/return summary information filed in an interactive
data format still may vary according to the mutual funds' size,
complexity, and other factors not apparent from the voluntary program
participant responses and commenters' responses. The discussion below
summarizes the direct cost estimates of compliance regarding risk/
return summary submissions based on voluntary program participant
questionnaire responses and the specified assumptions.\273\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \268\ Estimates based on risk/return summary voluntary program
questionnaire responses. The voluntary program questionnaire
responses indicated that different filers use different personnel to
prepare interactive data submissions. We calculated costs for each
participant based upon the personnel each individual respondent to
the voluntary program questionnaire indicated it used and the length
of time it indicated the personnel spent on the preparation. The
numbers in the table represent the average of all of these
calculations. The following wage rates were assumed for preparation
cost estimates: operations specialist--$129; paralegal--$168; senior
compliance examiner--$180; intermediate business analyst--$183;
senior accountant--$185; programmer analyst--$194; financial
reporting manager--$268; and attorney--$295. These estimated wage
figures are based on published rates for the personnel above,
modified to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits, and
overhead, yielding the effectively hourly rates above. See SIFMA
Report, supra note 221.
    \269\ Software licensing and the use of a consultant can be
substitutionary--mutual funds can choose to do one or the other, or
do both--and are thus aggregated.
    \270\ We note that one volunteer expended over $100,000 in
information technology to develop internal software that applies
interactive data tags to risk/return summary information. This one
expenditure by one fund resulted in a higher average software and
consulting services cost per fund of $20,600 for the first
submission. Excluding this data, the average software and consulting
services costs per fund would have been approximately $500.
    While our averages imply that the costs of internally developing
software is allocated to one fund in the sample, in reality the
complex that developed the software will likely use that software
for all of its funds. Thus the development cost could be allocated
across all funds within that complex rather than to one fund.
    \271\ Voluntary program participants were not required to post
on their Web sites, if any, the interactive data information they
submitted. Consequently, the costs of the requirement to post
interactive data information are not derived from the voluntary
program participant questionnaire responses or discussed in our
analysis of those responses. Those costs are, instead, derived from
informal discussions with a limited number of persons believed to be
generally knowledgeable about preparing, submitting, and posting
interactive data.
    \272\ See supra note 270 with respect to the high end of the
range.
    \273\ The details of this analysis regarding risk/return summary
information, including the underlying assumptions and other
considerations related to both the costs and benefits of requiring
submission of interactive data, are provided following the summary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Average cost of first submission, excluding the costs of
Web site posting, from voluntary program questionnaire data is $23,200.
     Projected average cost of subsequent submissions,
excluding the costs of Web site posting, from voluntary program
questionnaire data is $3,100.
    This analysis attempts to quantify some of the direct costs that
mutual funds will incur to submit and post interactive data. Whether
mutual funds choose to purchase and learn how to use software packages
designed for interactive data submissions or outsource this task to a
third party, internal (labor) resources will be required to complete
the task. The cost estimates provided here using voluntary program
participant questionnaire responses shed light on the potential dollar
magnitude of the costs of requiring interactive data submissions.
    At the time the Commission proposed these amendments, 22 mutual
funds had participated in the voluntary program for interactive risk/
return summaries. Of these, nine were provided questionnaires on the
details of their cost experience, and six responses were collected
representing the cost data for ten funds.\274\ The table below
summarizes the aggregate costs per mutual fund, including software and
filing agent service costs and an estimated cost for the internal labor
hours required to prepare and submit the interactive data format
information. The low and high estimates of the cost for internal labor
hours were calculated using a variety of billing rates corresponding to
the job descriptions of internal personnel involved in preparing the
tagged risk/return summaries.\275\ The reported costs are calculated
using responses from the 6 voluntary program participants that provided
responses. Those six respondents represent mutual fund complexes whose
assets comprise a range of approximately.01% to 12.00% of all the
assets of the mutual funds that will be required to submit interactive
data.\276\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \274\ The questionnaires requested data for one fund; however,
several questionnaire respondents voluntarily submitted cost
information for more than one fund.
    \275\ See supra note 221. These estimates are from the 2007
SIFMA Report, modified to account for an 1,800-hour work-year and
multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee
benefits, and overhead. Questionnaire respondents apportioned time
spent tagging risk/return summaries among various job types.
    \276\ Based on total mutual fund assets of $10.6 trillion.
Lipper-Directors' Analytical Data, Reuters Sept. 2008.

 Table--Summary of Illustrative Survey Data on the Direct Cost Estimates
                   for Voluntary Program Participants
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                             All voluntary program
                                           participants respondents
                                     -----------------------------------
                                             Low              High
------------------------------------------------------------------------
First submission:
    Estimated costs.................           $735.50    \277\ $127,500
Subsequent submissions:
    Estimated costs.................           $555.00            $5,640
Average reduction in cost:
    From first to second submission.            24.54%      \278\ 95.58%
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scalability of Interactive Data-Related Support Services and Technology
    The final cost consideration in this section is the scalability of
interactive data-related support services and technology. In
particular, it is unclear how the market for interactive data support
services and technology will change in light of the adoption of the
rule amendments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \277\ We note that these costs are higher due to one
questionnaire respondent who spent significantly more than all other
respondents to create its own interactive data software in-house.
See supra note 270.
    \278\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The roles of each potential kind of service provider within the
interactive data market are likely to develop further and are not yet
clear, and there are many potential participants to consider, including
the software vendors, print/filing agents, and consultants, as well as
the Commission.\279\ Until the market of mutual funds that submit
interactive data information grows substantially larger, it is
difficult to predict how standard solutions will evolve. For example,
we do not know whether mutual funds will adopt solutions that create
interactive data submissions using third party software, a so-called
``bolt-on'' approach, or will seek integrated solutions that enable
funds to prepare interactive data submissions from their existing
software. Moreover, filing agents may maintain their role as an
intermediary by offering interactive data technology or other service
providers may cause that role to change. Others with technical
expertise may participate in the technology with unpredictable results.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \279\ In addition, mutual fund complexes with a large number of
funds may consider developing software in-house since that cost
could be allocated across all of their funds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Combining the uncertainty over the source of future interactive
data services with increased demand for these services could result in
a new equilibrium market price that is different from what is currently
reported by voluntary program participants. This price will be higher
if the demand for interactive data services increases (from 15 mutual
fund complexes currently participating in the voluntary program to
approximately 683 mutual fund complexes \280\ participating) at a
faster rate than the supply for these same services. More broadly, if
the interactive data requirement results in clients subscribing for
interactive data services faster than the rate at which these services
can be supplied, then a price increase is the natural discriminator in
how to allocate limited resources.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \280\ See ICI 2008 Investment Company Fact Book, supra note 63,
at 14 (683 fund sponsors).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The submission costs discussed in this section suggest that if
interactive data is implemented too quickly it could result in higher
than necessary submission costs if the supply of interactive data-
related resources is constrained, but the effect will likely diminish
as a market place for interactive data services develops. Hence, this
concern is mitigated by delaying the requirement that mutual funds
submit interactive data until January 1, 2011. This delay is designed
to allow interactive data service suppliers to keep pace with demand.

B. Changes to Voluntary Program

    In order to facilitate further evaluation of data tagging, the rule
amendments will enable investment companies that are registered under
the Investment Company Act, business development companies, and other
entities that report under the Exchange Act and prepare their financial
statements in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation S-X to submit
exhibits containing a tagged schedule of portfolio holdings without
having to submit other financial information in interactive data
format.
1. Benefits
    We believe that portfolio holdings information in interactive data
format will allow more efficient and effective retrieval, research, and
analysis of registrants' portfolio holdings through automated means.
The proposed amendments to the voluntary program will assist us in
assessing whether using interactive data tags enhances users' ability
to analyze and compare portfolio holdings information included in
filings with the Commission.
    Currently, a number of companies use computers and data entry staff
to mine portfolio holdings information provided by mutual funds and
others in order to populate databases that are used to package
information for sale to analysts, funds, investors, and others.
Permitting funds and other entities to tag portfolio holdings
information in Commission filings will aid this data-mining process in
that it will identify points of data at the source, which will reduce
the cost to populate databases and improve the accuracy of that data.
Additionally, the changes to the voluntary program will benefit funds
and the public by permitting experimentation with data tagging using
the new portfolio holdings list of tags when it is created.
    In the future, the availability of potentially more accurate
information about mutual funds and other entities will also reduce the
cost of research and analysis and create new opportunities for
companies that compile, provide, and analyze data to produce more value
added services. Enhanced access to information submitted in interactive
data format also will allow retail investors (or financial advisers
assisting such investors) to perform more personalized and
sophisticated analyses and comparisons of mutual funds and other
investment options, which will result in investors making better
informed investment decisions, and therefore in a more efficient
distribution of assets by investors among different funds. This may, in
turn, also contribute to increased competition among mutual funds and
other entities and result in a more efficient allocation of resources
among competing investment products. Although it is not possible to
quantify precisely the beneficial effects of more efficient allocation
of investors' assets

and increased competition, they may be significant, given the size of
the mutual fund industry.
    Other benefits resulting from the inclusion of portfolio holdings
information as a stand-alone item in the voluntary program will include
an increase in the accuracy of information and the potential for
increased timeliness of data that investors use to make informed
investment decisions. Another benefit is that portfolio holdings
information submitted in interactive data format will allow automated,
instantaneous extraction of every investment disclosed in the schedule
of portfolio holdings. Finally, the investment analysis process may
become more efficient and effective through the increased use of
automation and reduced human intervention that should result from the
use of interactive data.
2. Costs
    The amendments to the voluntary program will lead to some costs for
filers choosing to submit portfolio holdings information in interactive
data format. For purposes of the PRA, we estimated that the increase in
annual internal burden hours to the industry will be approximately 220
hours, which will amount to an increase in costs of approximately
$47,000 and that the increase in annual external costs per filer will
amount to approximately $600 per year for a total estimated increase to
the industry of approximately $12,000 on an annual basis.\281\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \281\ See infra Section III.A.2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We based these cost estimates upon, among other things, experience
with mutual funds who have submitted risk/return summary information in
interactive data format in the current voluntary program.\282\ Due to
the fact that no mutual fund has submitted portfolio holdings
information through the voluntary program, however, we have limited
data to quantify the cost of implementing the use of interactive data
tags applied to portfolio holdings information. In the future, there
may be additional costs to current users of EDGAR data. For example,
companies that currently provide tagging and dissemination of EDGAR
data may experience decreased demand for their services. These entities
have developed certain products and services based on data in EDGAR;
many entities disseminate, repackage, analyze, and sell the
information. Allowing filers to submit tagged portfolio holdings
information, even voluntarily, may have an impact on entities providing
EDGAR-based services and products. Because the Commission does not
regulate all these entities, it is currently not feasible to accurately
estimate the number or size of these potentially affected entities. The
limited, voluntary nature of the program will help the Commission
assess the effect, if any, on these entities. Additionally, the
availability of interactive data on EDGAR may provide these companies
with alternative business opportunities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \282\ See supra note 268.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Combined with the removal of risk/return summary information from
the voluntary program, we estimated for PRA purposes that there will be
a total decrease of 1,600 burden hours which will amount to
approximately $347,000, and a total decrease in external costs of
approximately $158,000. Therefore, the total cost decrease to the
industry for purposes of the PRA for the rule amendments related to the
voluntary program is $505,000.\283\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \283\ This estimate was derived from previously reported costs
estimates from the voluntary program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Consideration of Burden on Competition and Promotion of Efficiency,
Competition, and Capital Formation

    Section 23(a)(2) of the Exchange Act \284\ requires us, when
adopting rules under the Exchange Act, to consider the impact that any
new rule would have on competition. In addition, Section 23(a)(2)
prohibits us from adopting any rule that would impose a burden on
competition not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes
of the Exchange Act. Furthermore, Section 2(b) \285\ of the Securities
Act, Section 3(f) \286\ of the Exchange Act, and Section 2(c) \287\ of
the Investment Company Act require the Commission, when engaging in
rulemaking that requires it to consider or determine whether an action
is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, to consider, in
addition to the protection of investors, whether the action will
promote efficiency, competition, and capital formation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \284\ 15 U.S.C. 78w(a)(2).
    \285\ 15 U.S.C. 77b(b).
    \286\ 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
    \287\ 15 U.S.C. 80a-2(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data

    The rule amendments to require mutual funds to submit interactive
data to the Commission and post it on their Web sites are intended to
make risk/return summary information easier for investors to analyze
while assisting in automating regulatory filings and business
information processing. As discussed previously,\288\ we believe that
these amendments are likely to benefit investors by making financial
markets more efficient in regard to capital formation by reducing some
of the information barriers that make it costly for mutual funds to
find appropriate sources of new investors. Similarly, these
requirements may enable investors to better allocate their capital
among mutual funds by reducing the cost to access, collect, and analyze
mutual fund risk/return summary information and by improving the
content of fund-reported information available to investors. Since
lower data collection costs would lower entry barriers for suppliers of
interactive-data-related fund comparative products, these requirements
also may result in increased competition among these suppliers, which,
in turn, would help spur innovation with respect to such products.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \288\ See supra Section IV.A.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We requested comment on whether the proposed amendments would
promote efficiency, competition, and capital formation. One commenter
asserted that requiring funds to utilize the current list of tags when
revisions are likely in the near term would be inefficient and
costly.\289\ As noted above, however, revisions to the list of tags for
risk/return summary information have been issued for public comment and
are expected to be finalized by the end of January 2009. Again, this
will provide mutual funds with substantial time to prepare to tag their
risk/return summary information. This commenter also stated that its
members were skeptical that using XBRL for risk/return summary
information will create internal efficiencies that would ultimately
result in cost savings.\290\ While the internal efficiencies of
interactive data for mutual funds are currently unquantified, we
continue to believe that they may be available to mutual funds.
Further, as discussed in detail above, we anticipate that the rules may
lead to more efficient capital formation and allocation.\291\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \289\ See letter of ICI.
    \290\ Id.
    \291\ See supra Section IV.A.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    We understand that private sector businesses such as those that
access mutual fund information and aggregate, analyze, compare, or
convert it into interactive format have business models and, as a
result, competitive strategies that the adopted interactive data
requirements might affect. Since interactive data technology is
designed to remove an informational barrier,

business models within the mutual fund services industry that are
currently adapted to traditional format document reporting may change,
with possible consequences for the revenue stream of current product
offerings due to the competitive effects of such a change. The
competitive effects may relate to changes in the accessibility of risk/
return summary information to investors, the nature of the information
that investors receive, and the potential from new entry or innovation
in the markets through which mutual fund disclosures are transmitted
from mutual funds to investors. For example, lower entry barriers that
result from lower data collection costs may increase competition among
third party information providers and help spur interactive data-
related innovation. It is also possible, however, that increased
competition from new market entrants could reduce industry profit
margins, and, as a result, the quality of services may suffer. For
example, and illustration purposes only, assume that an Internet
service company develops an interactive data-based tool that easily
provides risk/return summary information for free to all subscribers,
and it uses this product as a loss leader to increase viewership and
advertising revenue. If the data provided is of the same quality as
data provided through subscription to other available commercial
products, then there should be no informational efficiency loss and the
quality of services should not be impaired. However, if the incumbent
service providers provide a higher quality of information that improves
investor interpretation beyond risk/return summary information, but
they find that it is no longer profitable to produce this information
as a result of subsidized products from inferior providers, then
valuable information production may be lost.
    For the reasons described more fully above, we believe the
liability protections for interactive data are necessary or appropriate
in the public interest and consistent with the protection of investors.
Moreover, the protections are also consistent with the purposes fairly
intended by the policy and provisions of the Investment Company Act.

B. Changes to the Voluntary Program

    The amendments no longer allow mutual funds to submit risk/return
summary information in interactive data format through the voluntary
program after the compliance date for the mandatory rules and enable
investment companies that are registered under the Investment Company
Act, business development companies, and other entities that report
under the Exchange Act and prepare their financial statements in
accordance with Article 6 of Regulation S-X to submit exhibits
containing a tagged schedule of portfolio holdings without having to
submit other financial information in interactive data format. The
changes to the voluntary program are intended to help further evaluate
the usefulness to investors, third-party information providers,
investment companies, the Commission, and the marketplace of
interactive data and, in particular, of submitting portfolio holdings
information in interactive data format. Because compliance with the
amendments is voluntary, the Commission estimates that the impact of
the amendments will be limited. However, because the submission of
portfolio holdings information in interactive data format has the
potential to facilitate analysis of that information, we believe that
the amendments could promote efficiency by allowing us and others to
gain experience with portfolio holdings information in interactive data
format.
    Further, submitting portfolio holdings information in interactive
data format has the potential to help streamline the delivery of
portfolio holdings information, and provide investors and others with
improved tools to compare funds and other entities. As with the filing
of risk/return summary information in interactive data format, we
believe that the potential to streamline the delivery of portfolio
holdings information and to provide investors and others with improved
comparison tools could promote efficiency and competition through more
efficient allocation of investments by investors and more efficient
allocation of assets among competing funds and other investment
products.
    In the future, companies that currently provide tagging and
dissemination of EDGAR data may experience decreased demand for their
services. The availability of interactive data on the Commission's
electronic filing system however, may provide these companies with
alternative business opportunities. We do not anticipate that the
amendments will have a significant impact on capital formation.
Finally, because the amendments are designed to permit mutual funds and
other entities to provide information in a format that we believe will
be more useful to investors, we believe that the amendments are
appropriate in the public interest and for the protection of investors.

VI. Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

    This Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis has been prepared in
accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act.\292\ It relates to the
amendments we are adopting that will require mutual funds to provide
risk/return summary information to the Commission and on their Web
sites in interactive data format and enable investment companies and
other entities to submit exhibits through the voluntary program
containing a tagged schedule of portfolio holdings without having to
submit other financial information in interactive data format.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \292\ 5 U.S.C. 604.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Need for the Rule

1. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data
    The main purpose of the amendments is to make risk/return summary
information easier for investors to analyze while assisting in
automating regulatory filings and business information processing.
Currently, mutual funds are required to file their registration
statements in a traditional format that provides static text-based
information. We believe that providing the risk/return summary
information these filings contain in interactive data format will:
     Enable investors and others to search and analyze the
information dynamically;
     Facilitate comparison of mutual fund performance; and
     Provide an opportunity to automate regulatory filings and
business information processing with the potential to increase the
speed, accuracy, and usability of risk/return summary disclosure.
2. Changes to the Voluntary Program
    The main purpose of the amendments to the voluntary program is to
help us evaluate the usefulness to investors, third party information
providers, funds, the Commission, and the marketplace of interactive
data and, in particular, of submitting portfolio holdings information
in interactive data format. We believe the changes to the voluntary
program will enable us to further study the extent to which interactive
data enhance the comparability of portfolio holdings information, the
usefulness of interactive data for dissemination, and our staff's
ability to review and assess the accuracy and adequacy of that data.
The changes to the voluntary program also will help us assess the
effect of

interactive data on the quality and transparency of portfolio holdings
information, as well as the compatibility of interactive data with the
Commission's disclosure requirements.
    More specifically, we believe that the changes to the voluntary
program will better enable us to study the extent to which interactive
data will:
     Enable investors and others to search and analyze the
information dynamically;
     Facilitate comparison of portfolio holdings among funds
and other entities; and
     Possibly provide a significant opportunity to reduce the
resources needed for data analysis.
    In addition, we believe the changes to the voluntary program will
enhance our ability to evaluate the:
     Impact on the staff's ability to review filings on a more
timely and efficient basis;
     Use of interactive data for risk assessment and
surveillance procedures; and
     Compatibility of interactive data with reporting quality,
transparency, and other Commission reporting requirements.

B. Significant Issues Raised by Public Comment

    In the Proposing Release, we requested comment on the number of
small entity issuers that may be affected, the existence or nature of
the potential impact and how to quantify the impact of the amendments.
Commenters generally supported both the use of technology to better
inform mutual fund investors and the Commission's goal of providing
risk/return summary information in an interactive data format, but most
commenters stated that requiring mutual funds to provide tagged risk/
return summary information at this time is premature.\293\ Two
commenters suggested that funds should be phased into the mandatory
interactive data program based on fund size.\294\ As discussed more
extensively below, however, we do not believe a phase-in or alternate
procedures for small entities are warranted as such a phase-in would
detract from the completeness and uniformity of tagged risk/return
summary information. We continue to believe that the potential of
interactive data for enhancing investors' access to mutual fund
information justifies implementation of this initiative at this time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \293\ See supra notes 55 and 56 and accompanying text.
    \294\ See letters of Data Communiqu[eacute] and Schnase.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Small Entities Subject to the Rules

    For purposes of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, an investment
company is a small entity if it, together with other investment
companies in the same group of related investment companies, has net
assets of $50 million or less as of the end of its most recent fiscal
year.\295\ Approximately 127 mutual funds registered on Form N-1A meet
this definition.\296\ All of these mutual funds will become subject to
the rules to require submission of risk/return summary information
using interactive data. A smaller subset of these mutual funds may
voluntarily submit tagged portfolio holdings information, but, because
submitting portfolio holdings information will be voluntary, we
anticipate that only mutual fund complexes with sufficient resources
would elect to participate. To date, no small entity mutual funds have
elected to participate in the current voluntary program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \295\ 17 CFR 270.0-10.
    \296\ This estimate is based on analysis by the Division of
Investment Management staff of publicly available data as of
December 2007.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

D. Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping and Other Compliance Requirements

1. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data
    All mutual funds subject to the amendments are required to submit
risk/return summary information to the Commission in interactive data
format and, if they have a Web site, post the interactive data on their
Web site. We believe that, in order to submit risk/return summary
information in interactive data format, mutual funds in general and
small entities in particular likely will need to prepare and then
submit the interactive data by expending internal labor hours in
connection with either or both of:
     Purchasing, learning, and using software packages designed
to prepare risk/return summary information in interactive format; and
     Hiring and working with a consultant or filing agent.
    We believe that mutual funds will incur relatively little cost in
connection with the requirement to post the interactive data on their
Web site because the requirement applies only to mutual funds that
already have a Web site.\297\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \297\ The internal labor and external costs required to comply
with the rules we are adopting are discussed more fully in Sections
III and IV above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Changes to the Voluntary Program
    The voluntary program is designed to assist us in assessing the
feasibility of using interactive data on a broader basis. Experience
with the current voluntary program indicates that the cost of
submitting portfolio holdings information in interactive data format,
the associated burden on the Commission's electronic filing system, and
the possible effect of the proposed changes to the voluntary program on
those entities that use the data from the Commission's electronic
filing system will be minimal.
    No registrant will be required to submit documents in interactive
data format under the changes we are adopting to the voluntary program.
The submission of portfolio holdings information in interactive data
format will require a participant to tag the portfolio holdings
information already provided in required disclosures and to submit
exhibits to its filing. Volunteers may also need to purchase software
or retain a consultant to assist in creating interactive data
exhibits.\298\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \298\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

E. Agency Action To Minimize the Effect on Small Entities

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act directs us to consider significant
alternatives that would accomplish the stated objective, while
minimizing any significant adverse impact on small entities. In
connection with the amendments, the Commission considered the following
alternatives: (1) The establishment of different compliance or
reporting requirements or timetables that take into account the
resources available to small entities; (2) the clarification,
consolidation, or simplification of compliance and reporting
requirements under the amendments for small entities; (3) the use of
performance rather than design standards; and (4) an exemption from
coverage of the amendments, or any part thereof, for small entities.
1. Submission of Risk/Return Summary Information Using Interactive Data
    We believe that, as to small entities, differing compliance,
reporting or timetable requirements, a partial or complete exemption
from the requirements, or the use of performance rather than design
standards would be inappropriate because these approaches would detract
from the long-term completeness and uniformity of the interactive data
format risk/return summary information database. Less long-term
completeness and uniformity would reduce the extent to which the
amendments will enable investors and others to search and analyze the
information dynamically; facilitate

comparison of mutual fund information; and, possibly, provide an
opportunity to automate regulatory filings and business information
processing with the potential to increase the speed, accuracy, and
usability of risk/return summary information disclosure. We note that
all mutual funds, including small entities, are not required to comply
with the new requirements until after January 1, 2011.\299\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \299\ In this regard, in Section II.H. of this release we note
that the additional time is intended to permit mutual funds to plan
for and implement the interactive data reporting process after
having the opportunity to experiment with the voluntary program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Changes to the Voluntary Program
    The purpose of the amendments is to help us evaluate the usefulness
to investors, third-party information providers, mutual funds and other
entities, the Commission, and the marketplace of interactive data and,
in particular, of submitting portfolio holdings information in
interactive data format. Submitting documents containing portfolio
holdings information in interactive data format is entirely voluntary.
    We have considered different or simpler procedures for small
entities, but for interactive data to provide benefits such as ready
comparability there cannot be alternative procedures in place for
different entities. Similarly, in order to achieve the benefits of
interactive data, use of a single technology is necessary. If we
determine to require the filing of portfolio holdings information in
interactive data format in the future, we will look to the results of
the voluntary program to find alternatives to minimize any burden on
small entities.

VII. Statutory Authority

    The Commission is adopting the amendments outlined above under
Sections 5, 6, 7, 10, 19(a), and 28 of the Securities Act [15 U.S.C.
77e, 77f, 77g, 77j, 77s(a), and 77z-3]; Sections 3, 12, 13, 14, 15(d),
23(a), 35A, and 36 of the Exchange Act [15 U.S.C. 78c, 78l, 78m, 78n,
78o(d), 78w(a), 78ll, and 78mm]; Sections 314 and 319 of the Trust
Indenture Act [15 U.S.C. 77nnn and 77sss]; and Sections 6(c), 8, 24,
30, and 38 of the Investment Company Act [15 U.S.C. 80a-6(c), 80a-8,
80a-24, 80a-29, and 80a-37].

List of Subjects

17 CFR Parts 232 and 239

    Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Securities.

17 CFR Parts 230 and 274

    Investment Companies, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Securities.

Text of Rule and Form Amendments

0
For the reasons set forth above, the Commission amends Title 17,
Chapter II of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 230--GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS, SECURITES ACT OF 1933

0
1. The authority citation for Part 230 continues to read in part as
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77b, 77c, 77d, 77f, 77g, 77h, 77j, 77r,
77s, 77z-3, 77sss, 78c, 78d, 78j, 78l , 78m, 78n, 78o, 78t, 78w,
78ll(d), 78mm, 80a-8, 80a-24, 80a-28, 80a-29, 80a-30, and 80a-37,
unless otherwise noted.
* * * * *

0
2. Amend Sec.  230.485 by adding paragraph (c)(3) to read as follows:

Sec.  230.485  Effective date of post-effective amendments filed by
certain registered investment companies.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (3) A registrant's ability to file a post-effective amendment,
other than an amendment filed solely for purposes of submitting an
Interactive Data File, under paragraph (b) of this section is
automatically suspended if a registrant fails to submit and post on its
Web site any Interactive Data File exhibit as required by General
Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A (Sec. Sec.  239.15A and 274.11A of
this chapter). A suspension under this paragraph (c)(3) shall become
effective at such time as the registrant fails to submit or post an
Interactive Data File as required by General Instruction C.3.(g) of
Form N-1A. Any such suspension, so long as it is in effect, shall apply
to any post-effective amendment that is filed after the suspension
becomes effective, but shall not apply to any post-effective amendment
that was filed before the suspension became effective. Any suspension
shall apply only to the ability to file a post-effective amendment
pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section and shall not otherwise
affect any post-effective amendment. Any suspension under this
paragraph (c)(3) shall terminate as soon as a registrant has submitted
and posted to its Web site the Interactive Data File as required by
General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A.
* * * * *

0
3. Amend Sec.  230.497 by adding a sentence at the end of paragraphs
(c) and (e) to read as follows:

Sec.  230.497  Filing of investment company prospectuses--number of
copies.

* * * * *
    (c) * * * Investment companies filing on Form N-1A must, if
applicable pursuant to General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A,
include an Interactive Data File (Sec.  232.11 of this chapter).
* * * * *
    (e) * * * Investment companies filing on Form N-1A must, if
applicable pursuant to General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A,
include an Interactive Data File (Sec.  232.11 of this chapter).
* * * * *

PART 232--REGULATION S-T--GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR
ELECTRONIC FILINGS

0
4. The authority citation for Part 232 continues to read in part as
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77f, 77g, 77h, 77j, 77s(a), 77z-3,
77sss(a), 78c(b), 78l, 78m, 78n, 78o(d), 78w(a), 78ll, 80a-6(c),
80a-8, 80a-29, 80a-30, 80a-37, and 7201 et seq. ; and 18 U.S.C.
1350.
* * * * *

0
5. Further amend Sec.  232.11 as published at 74 FR 6813, February 10,
2009, by revising the definition of ``Related Official Filing'' to read
as follows:

Sec.  232.11  Definition of terms used in part 232.

* * * * *
    Related Official Filing. The term Related Official Filing means the
ASCII or HTML format part of the official filing with which an
Interactive Data File appears as an exhibit or, in the case of a filing
on Form N-1A, the ASCII or HTML format part of an official filing that
contains the information to which an Interactive Data File corresponds.
* * * * *

0
6. Further amend Sec.  232.202 as published beginning at 74 FR 6813,
February 10, 2009, by revising Note 4 to Sec.  232.202 to read as
follows:

Sec.  232.202  Continuing hardship exemption.

* * * * *

    Note 4 to Sec.  232.202: Failure to submit or post, as
applicable, the Interactive Data File as required by Rule 405 by the
end of the continuing hardship exemption if granted for a limited
period of time, will result in ineligibility to use Forms S-3, S-8,
and F-3 (Sec. Sec.  239.13, 239.16b and 239.33 of this chapter),
constitute a failure to have filed all required reports for purposes
of the current public information requirements of Rule 144(c)(1)
(Sec.  230.144(c)(1) of this chapter), and, pursuant to Rule
485(c)(3), suspend the ability to file post-effective amendments
under Rule 485(b) (Sec.  230.485 of this chapter).

0
7. Further amend Sec.  232.401 as published at 74 FR 6814, February 10,
2009, by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:

Sec.  232.401  XBRL-Related Document submissions.

    (a) Only an electronic filer that is an investment company
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et
seq.), a ``business development company'' as defined in section
2(a)(48) of that Act, or an entity that reports under the Exchange Act
and prepares its financial statements in accordance with Article 6 of
Regulation S-X (17 CFR 210.6-01 et seq.) is permitted to participate in
the voluntary XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) program. An
electronic filer that participates in the voluntary XBRL program may
submit XBRL-Related Documents (Sec.  232.11) in electronic format as an
exhibit to: the filing (other than a Form N-1A (Sec.  239.15A and Sec.
274.11A of this chapter)) to which the XBRL-Related Documents relate;
an amendment to such filing, but, in the case of a Form N-1A filing, an
amendment made only after the effective date of the Form N-1A filing to
which the XBRL-Related Documents relate; or, if the electronic filer is
eligible to file a Form 8-K (Sec.  249.308 of this chapter) or a Form
6-K (Sec.  249.306 of this chapter), a Form 8-K or a Form 6-K, as
applicable, that references the filing to which the XBRL-Related
Documents relate if such Form 8-K or Form 6-K is submitted no earlier
than the date of that filing. The XBRL-Related Documents must comply
with the content and format requirements of this section, be submitted
as an exhibit to a form that contains the disclosure required by this
section and be submitted in accordance with the EDGAR Filer Manual and,
as applicable, one of Item 601(b)(100) of Regulation S-K (Sec.
229.601(b)(100) of this chapter), Item 601(b)(100) of Regulation S-B
(Sec.  228.601(b)(100) of this chapter), Form 20-F (Sec.  249.220f of
this chapter), Form 6-K or Sec.  270.8b-33 of this chapter.
* * * * *

0
8. Amend Sec.  232.401 by:
0
a. Removing ``or'' at the end of paragraph (b)(1)(iii);
0
b. Revising paragraph (b)(1)(iv);
0
c. Adding paragraph (b)(1)(v); and
0
d. Revising paragraph (d)(2), introductory text.
    The addition and revisions read as follows:

Sec.  232.401   XBRL-Related Document submissions.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (iv) The risk/return summary information set forth in Items 2, 3,
and 4 of Form N-1A provided that the filing is submitted prior to
January 1, 2011, and, in the case of a Form N-1A filing that includes
more than one series (as that term is used in rule 18f-2(a) under the
Investment Company Act (Sec.  270.18f-2(a) of this chapter), a filer
may include in mandatory content complete risk/return summary
information for any one or more of those series; or
    (v) If the electronic filer is an investment company registered
under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.), a
``business development company'' as defined in section 2(a)(48) of that
Act, or an entity that reports under the Exchange Act and prepares its
financial statements in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation S-X (17
CFR 210.6-01 et seq.), Schedule I--Investments in Securities of
Unaffiliated Issuers (Sec.  210.12-12 of this chapter).
* * * * *
    (d) * * *
    (2) The disclosures required by paragraph (d)(1) of this section
must appear within the XBRL-Related Documents as a tagged data element
and, as applicable, in:
* * * * *

0
9. Further amend Sec.  232.405 as published beginning at 74 FR 6814,
February 10, 2009, by:
0
a. Revising Preliminary Note 1;
0
b. Revising paragraphs (a), (b) and (g); and
0
c. Adding a sentence at the end of the Note to Sec.  232.405.
    The revisions and addition read as follows:

Sec.  232.405  Interactive Data File submissions and postings.

    Preliminary Note 1. Sections 405 and 406T of Regulation S-T
(Sec. Sec.  232.405 and 232.406T) apply to electronic filers that
submit or post Interactive Data Files. Item 601(b)(101) of Regulation
S-K (Sec.  229.601(b)(101) of this chapter), paragraph 101 of the
Information Not Required to be Delivered to Offerees or Purchasers of
both Form F-9 (Sec.  239.39 of this chapter) and Form F-10 (Sec.
239.40 of this chapter), Item 101 of the Instructions as to Exhibits of
Form 20-F (Sec.  249.220f of this chapter), paragraph B.7 of the
General Instructions to Form 40-F (Sec.  249.240f of this chapter),
paragraph C.6 of the General Instructions to Form 6-K (Sec.  249.306 of
this chapter), and General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A (Sec. Sec.
239.15A and 274.11A of this chapter) specify when electronic filers are
required or permitted to submit or post an Interactive Data File (Sec.
232.11), as further described in the Note to Sec.  232.405.
* * * * *
    (a) Content, format, submission and posting requirements--General.
An Interactive Data File must:
    (1) Comply with the content, format, submission and Web site
posting requirements of this section;
    (2) Be submitted only by an electronic filer either required or
permitted to submit an Interactive Data File as specified by Item
601(b)(101) of Regulation S-K, paragraph 101 of the Information Not
Required to be Delivered to Offerees or Purchasers of either Form F-9
or Form F-10, Item 101 of the Instructions as to Exhibits of Form 20-F,
paragraph B.7 of the General Instructions to Form 40-F, paragraph C.6
of the General Instructions to Form 6-K, or General Instruction C.3.(g)
of Form N-1A, as applicable, as an exhibit to:
    (i) A form that contains the disclosure required by this section;
or
    (ii) If the electronic filer is not an open-end management
investment company registered under the Investment Company Act, an
amendment to a form that contains the disclosure required by this
section if the amendment is filed no more than 30 days after the
earlier of the due date or filing date of the form and the Interactive
Data File is the first Interactive Data File the electronic filer
submits or the first Interactive Data File the electronic filer submits
that complies or is required to comply, whichever occurs first, with
paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(4), (e)(1), and (e)(2) of this section;
    (3) Be submitted in accordance with the EDGAR Filer Manual and, as
applicable, Item 601(b)(101) of Regulation S-K, paragraph 101 of the
Information Not Required to be Delivered to Offerees or Purchasers of
either Form F-9 or Form F-10, Item 101 of the Instructions as to
Exhibits of Form 20-F, paragraph B.7 of the General Instructions to
Form 40-F, paragraph C.6 of the General Instructions to Form 6-K, or
General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A; and
    (4) Be posted on the electronic filer's corporate Web site, if any,
in accordance with, as applicable, Item 601(b)(101) of Regulation S-K,
paragraph 101 of the Information Not Required to be Delivered to
Offerees or Purchasers of either Form F-9 or Form F-10, Item 101 of the
Instructions as to Exhibits of Form 20-F, paragraph B.7 of the General
Instructions to Form 40-F, paragraph

C.6 of the General Instructions to Form 6-K, or General Instruction
C.3.(g) of Form N-1A.
    (b)(1) Content--categories of information presented. If the
electronic filer is not an open-end management investment company
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, an Interactive
Data File must consist of only a complete set of information for all
periods required to be presented in the corresponding data in the
Related Official Filing, no more and no less, from all of the following
categories:
    (i) The complete set of the electronic filer's financial statements
(which includes the face of the financial statements and all
footnotes); and
    (ii) All schedules set forth in Article 12 of Regulation S-X
(Sec. Sec.  210.12-01--210.12-29) related to the electronic filer's
financial statements.

    Note to paragraph (b)(1): It is not permissible for the
Interactive Data File to present only partial face financial
statements, such as by excluding comparative financial information
for prior periods.

    (2) If the electronic filer is an open-end management investment
company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, an
Interactive Data File must consist of only a complete set of
information for all periods required to be presented in the
corresponding data in the Related Official Filing, no more and no less,
from the risk/return summary information set forth in Items 2, 3, and 4
of Form N-1A.
* * * * *
    (g) Posting. Any electronic filer that maintains a corporate Web
site and is required to submit an Interactive Data File must post that
Interactive Data File on that Web site by the end of the calendar day
on the earlier of the date the Interactive Data File is submitted or is
required to be submitted, and, if the electronic filer is not an open-
end management company registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940, the Interactive Data File must remain accessible on that Web site
for at least a 12-month period. For an electronic filer that is an
open-end management investment company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A specifies
the period of time for which an Interactive Data File must remain
accessible on a company's Web site.

    Note to Sec.  232.405: * * * For an issuer that is an open-end
management investment company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940, General Instruction C.3.(g) of Form N-1A
specifies the circumstances under which an Interactive Data File
must be submitted as an exhibit and be posted to the company's Web
site, if any.

PART 239--FORMS PRESCRIBED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

0
10. The authority citation for Part 239 continues to read in part as
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77f, 77g, 77h, 77j, 77s, 77z-2, 77z-3,
77sss, 78c, 78l, 78m, 78n, 78o(d), 78u-5, 78w(a), 78ll, 78mm, 80a-
2(a), 80a-3, 80a-8, 80a-9, 80a-10, 80a-13, 80a-24, 80a-26, 80a-29,
80a-30, and 80a-37, unless otherwise noted.
* * * * *

PART 274--FORMS PRESCRIBED UNDER THE INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940

0
11. The authority citation for Part 274 continues to read in part as
follows:

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 77f, 77g, 77h, 77j, 77s, 78c(b), 78l, 78m,
78n, 78o(d), 80a-8, 80a-24, 80a-26, and 80a-29, unless otherwise
noted.
* * * * *

0
12. Amend Form N-1A (referenced in Sec. Sec.  239.15A and 274.11A) by
adding a paragraph (g) to General Instruction C.3. to read as follows:

    Note: The text of Form N-1A does not, and these amendments will
not, appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.

FORM N-1A
* * * * *
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
* * * * *
C.
* * * * *
3.
* * * * *
    (g) Interactive Data File.
    (i) An Interactive Data File (Sec.  232.11 of this chapter) is
required to be submitted to the Commission and posted on the Fund's Web
site, if any, in the manner provided by Rule 405 of Regulation S-T
(Sec.  232.405 of this chapter) for any registration statement or post-
effective amendment thereto on Form N-1A that includes or amends
information provided in response to Items 2, 3, or 4. The Interactive
Data File must be submitted as an amendment to the registration
statement to which the Interactive Data File relates. The amendment
must be submitted after the registration statement or post-effective
amendment that contains the related information becomes effective but
not later than 15 business days after the effective date of that
registration statement or post-effective amendment.
    (ii) An Interactive Data File is required to be submitted to the
Commission and posted on the Fund's Web site, if any, in the manner
provided by Rule 405 of Regulation S-T for any form of prospectus filed
pursuant to rule 497(c) or (e) under the Securities Act [17 CFR
230.497(c) or (e)] that includes information provided in response to
Items 2, 3, or 4 that varies from the registration statement. The
Interactive Data File may be submitted with or up to 15 business days
subsequent to the filing made pursuant to rule 497.
    (iii) An Interactive Data File is required to be posted on the
Fund's Web site for as long as the registration statement or post-
effective amendment to which the Interactive Data File relates remains
current.
    (iv) An Interactive Data File must be submitted as an exhibit to
Form N-1A, under paragraph (i) of this Instruction, or as an exhibit to
the filing made pursuant to rule 497, under paragraph (ii) of this
Instruction. The Interactive Data File must be submitted in such a
manner that will permit the information for each series and, for any
information that does not relate to all of the classes in a filing,
each class of the Fund to be separately identified.

    Dated: February 11, 2009.

    By the Commission.

Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-3359 Filed 2-18-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P