INDEPENDENT REGULATORY REVIEW COMMISSION Notice of Comments Issued [33 Pa.B. 2233] Section 5(d) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5 (d)) provides that the designated standing Committees may issue comments within 20 days of the close of the public comment period and the Commission may issue comments within 10 days of the close of the Committee comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.1(h) and (i) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(h) and (i)).
The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulations. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.
IRRC Close of the Public Comments Reg No. Agency/Title Comment Period Issued 43-9 Public School Employees' Retirement Board 3/17/03 4/17/03 Optional Alternate Retirement Plans (33 Pa.B. 882 (February 15, 2003)) 31-2 State Employees' Retirement Board 3/17/03 4/17/03 Optional Alternate Retirement Plans (33 Pa.B. 892 (February 15, 2003)) 50-118 Pennsylvania Securities Commission 3/17/03 4/17/03 Banking and Savings and Loan Institutions (33 Pa.B. 884 (February 15, 2003)) ____ Public School Employees' Retirement Board Regulation No. 43-9 Optional Alternate Retirement Plans April 17, 2003 We submit for consideration comments that include references to the criteria in the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(h) and (i)) which have not been met. The Public School Employees' Retirement Board must respond to these Comments when it submits the final-form regulation. If the final-form regulation is not delivered within 2 years of the close of the public comment period, the regulation will be deemed withdrawn.
Section 215.36. Optional alternate retirement programs.--Clarity.
We have identified the following sentences or phrases which could be deleted or reformatted to improve clarity:
* The last sentence in subsection (a) appears to be unnecessary and could be deleted.
* The phrase ''as otherwise provided by law,'' which appears at the end of the last sentence in proposed subsection (a)(1), is unnecessary and should be deleted.
* In proposed subsection (a)(2), the second sentence which begins with the phrase ''When an employee later is employed in a capacity . . .'' is long and confusing. Clarity would be improved by breaking the sentence into subparagraphs consistent with the guidelines in Chapter 2 of the Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin Style Manual.
____ State Employees' Retirement Board
Regulation No. 31-2Optional Alternate Retirement Plans April 17, 2003 We submit for consideration the following comments that include references to the criteria in the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(h) and (i)) which have not been met. The State Employees' Retirement Board must respond to these Comments when it submits the final-form regulation. If the final-form regulation is not delivered within 2 years of the close of the public comment period, the regulation will be deemed withdrawn.
Section 249.58. Optional alternate retirement program.--Clarity.
We have identified the following sentences or phrases which could be deleted or reformatted to improve clarity:
* The last sentence in the opening paragraph of this section appears to be unnecessary and could be deleted.
* In the last sentence in proposed paragraph (1), the phrases ''as aforesaid'' and ''as provided by law'' are unnecessary and should be deleted. Also, the phrase ''he shall have'' should be changed to ''they have.''
* In proposed paragraph (2), the second sentence which begins with the phrase ''If the employee later becomes employed by the Commonwealth in a capacity . . . '' is long and confusing. Clarity would be improved by breaking the sentence into subparagraphs consistent with the guidelines in Chapter 2 of the Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin Style Manual.
____ Pennsylvania Securities Commission Regulation No. 50-118 Banking and Savings and Loan Institutions April 17, 2003 We submit for consideration the following comments that include references to the criteria in the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(h) and (i)) which have not been met. The Pennsylvania Securities Commission (PSC) must respond to these Comments when it submits the final-form regulation. If the final-form regulation is not delivered within 2 years of the close of the public comment period, the regulation will be deemed withdrawn.
1. Section 102.041. Bank holding companies; banks in organization.--Clarity and lack of ambiguity
Subsection (b)(2) includes the following: ''Whether an entity is a 'bank' or 'bank-in-organization' should be determined in accordance with the interpretation of the primary regulatory authority responsible for administration of the banking laws . . .'' (emphasis added) The term ''should'' is nonregulatory language and indicates that this provision is optional. Regulations establish binding norms of general applicability and future effect. The PSC could clarify this subsection by replacing the word ''should'' with the word ''shall.''
2. Section 102.112. SEPs, IRAs and KEOUGHs as institutional investors.-- Clarity and lack of ambiguity.
Paragraph (2) includes the phrase ''a person knowledgeable and experienced in financial and business matters.'' This phrase is ambiguous. The PSC should clarify this paragraph by listing acceptable credentials a person must possess to be considered knowledgeable and experienced in financial and business matters.
3. Section 202.030. Commercial paper.--Clarity and lack of ambiguity.
Subsection (b) states that ''prime quality'' means that the commercial paper has been rated in one of the top three rating categories by a Nationally recognized statistical rating organization. How will it be determined if a statistical rating organization is nationally recognized? It is our understanding that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) designates statistical ratings organizations as Nationally recognized. To improve clarity, we recommend that the final-form regulation either list the specific statistical rating organizations or reference statistical rating organizations that are approved by the SEC.
4. Section 203.161. Debt securities of nonprofit organizations.--Clarity and lack of ambiguity.
Subsection (b) includes the following: ''In preparing an offering document to meet the requirements of this section, the Commission suggests that issuers include information that is elicited by Part VII of the Statement of Policy regarding Church Bonds adopted April 14, 2002, by the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. and any successor policy thereto (''NASAA Guidelines'') and in the format suggested therein.'' (Emphasis added.) The terms ''suggests'' and ''suggested'' are not binding regulatory language. The PSC should clarify this provision by either making the inclusion of the information a requirement or by deleting the suggestion.
5. Section 305.011. Supervision of agents, investment adviser representatives and employees.--Clarity and lack of ambiguity.
Subsection (c)(10) includes the following: ''The obligation of diligent supervision required by this section may require that one or more locations of a broker-dealer or investment adviser in this Commonwealth receive more inspections or be on a periodic inspection cycle different than other locations of the broker-dealer or investment adviser in the Commonwealth and that inspections be unannounced.'' (Emphasis added.) Under what circumstances would more frequent inspections be required?
JOHN R. MCGINLEY, Jr.,
Chairperson[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-840. Filed for public inspection May 2, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]
