17 CFR § 270.30e-1 - Reports to stockholders of management companies.
(a) Every registered management company shall transmit to each stockholder of record, at least semi-annually, a report containing the information required to be included in such reports by the company's registration statement form under the 1940 Act, except that the initial report of a newly registered company shall be made as of a date not later than the close of the fiscal year or half-year occurring on or after the date on which the company's notification of registration under the 1940 Act is filed with the Commission.
(b)
(1) To satisfy its obligations under section 30(e) of the 1940 Act, an open-end management investment company registered on Form N–1A (§§ 239.15A and 274.11A of this chapter) also must:
(i) Make certain materials available on a website, as described under paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and
(ii) Deliver certain materials upon request, as described under paragraph (b)(3) of this section.
(2) The following website availability requirements are applicable to an open-end management investment company registered on Form N–1A (§§ 239.15A and 274.11A of this chapter).
(i) The company must make the disclosures required by Items 7 through 11 of Form N–CSR (§§ 249.331 and 274.128 of this chapter) publicly accessible, free of charge, at the website address specified at the beginning of the report to stockholders under paragraph (a) of this section, no later than 60 days after the end of the fiscal half-year or fiscal year of the company until 60 days after the end of the next fiscal half-year or fiscal year of the company, respectively. The company may satisfy the requirement in this paragraph (b)(2)(i) by making its most recent report on Form N–CSR publicly accessible, free of charge, at the specified website address for the time period that this paragraph (b)(2)(i) specifies.
(ii) Unless the company is a money market fund under § 270.2a–7, the company must make the company's complete portfolio holdings, if any, as of the close of the company's most recent first and third fiscal quarters, after the date on which the company's registration statement became effective, presented in accordance with the schedules set forth in §§ 210.12–12 through 210.12–14 of this chapter (Regulation S–X), which need not be audited. The complete portfolio holdings required by this paragraph (b)(2)(ii) must be made publicly accessible, free of charge, at the website address specified at the beginning of the report to stockholders under paragraph (a) of this section, not later than 60 days after the close of the of the first and third fiscal quarters until 60 days after the end of the next first and third fiscal quarters of the company, respectively.
(iii) The website address relied upon for compliance with this section may not be the address of the Commission's electronic filing system.
(iv) The materials that are accessible in accordance with paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section must be presented on the website in a format, or formats, that are convenient for both reading online and printing on paper.
(v) Persons accessing the materials specified in paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section must be able to permanently retain, free of charge, an electronic version of such materials in a format, or formats, that meet the requirements of paragraph (b)(2)(iv) of this section.
(vi) The requirements set forth in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of this section will be deemed to be met, notwithstanding the fact that the materials specified in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section are not available for a time in the manner required by paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of this section, provided that:
(A) The company has reasonable procedures in place to ensure that the specified materials are available in the manner required by paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of this section; and
(B) The company takes prompt action to ensure that the specified materials become available in the manner required by paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of this section, as soon as practicable following the earlier of the time at which it knows or reasonably should have known that the materials are not available in the manner required by paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (v) of this section.
(vii) The materials specified in paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section may either be separately available for each series of a fund, or the materials may be grouped by the types of materials and/or by series, so long as the grouped information:
(A) Is presented in a format designed to communicate the information effectively;
(B) Clearly distinguishes the different types of materials and/or each series (as applicable); and
(C) Provides a means of easily locating the relevant information (including, for example, a table of contents that includes hyperlinks to the specific materials and series).
(3) The following requirements to deliver certain materials upon request are applicable to an open-end management investment company registered on Form N–1A (§§ 239.15A and 274.11A of this chapter).
(i) The company (or a financial intermediary through which shares of the company may be purchased or sold) must send, at no cost to the requestor and by U.S. first class mail or other reasonably prompt means, a paper copy of any of the materials specified in paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section, to any person requesting such a copy within three business days after receiving a request for a paper copy.
(ii) The company (or a financial intermediary through which shares of the company may be purchased or sold) must send, at no cost to the requestor, and by email or other reasonably prompt means, an electronic copy of any of the materials specified in paragraph (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section, to any person requesting such a copy within three business days after receiving a request for an electronic copy. The requirement to send an electronic copy of the requested materials may be satisfied by sending a direct link to the online location of the materials; provided that a current version of the materials is directly accessible through the link from the time that the email is sent through the date that is six months after the date that the email is sent and the email explains both how long the link will remain useable and that, if recipients desire to retain a copy of the materials, they should access and save the materials.
(c) For registered management companies other than open-end management investment companies registered on Form N–1A, if any matter was submitted during the period covered by the shareholder report to a vote of shareholders, through the solicitation of proxies or otherwise, furnish the following information:
(1) The date of the meeting and whether it was an annual or special meeting.
(2) If the meeting involved the election of directors, the name of each director elected at the meeting and the name of each other director whose term of office as a director continued after the meeting.
(3) A brief description of each matter voted upon at the meeting and the number of votes cast for, against or withheld, as well as the number of abstentions and broker non-votes as to each such matter, including a separate tabulation with respect to each matter or nominee for office.
(i) Instruction 1 to paragraph (c). The solicitation of any authorization or consent (other than a proxy to vote at a shareholders' meeting) with respect to any matter shall be deemed a submission of such matter to a vote of shareholders within the meaning of this paragraph (c).
(ii) [Reserved]
(d) Each report shall be transmitted within 60 days after the close of the period for which such report is being made.
(e) The period of time within which any report prescribed by this rule shall be transmitted may be extended by the Commission upon written request showing good cause therefor. Section 270.0–5 shall not apply to such requests.
(f)
(1) A company will be considered to have transmitted a report to shareholders who share an address if:
(i) The company transmits a report to the shared address;
(ii) The company addresses the report to the shareholders as a group (for example, “ABC Fund [or Corporation] Shareholders,” “Jane Doe and Household,” “The Smith Family”) or to each of the shareholders individually (for example, “John Doe and Richard Jones”); and
(iii) The shareholders consent in writing to delivery of one report.
(2) The company need not obtain written consent from a shareholder under paragraph (f)(1)(iii) of this section if all of the following conditions are met:
(i) The shareholder has the same last name as the other shareholders, or the company reasonably believes that the shareholders are members of the same family;
(ii) The company has transmitted a notice to the shareholder at least 60 days before the company begins to rely on this section concerning transmission of reports to that shareholder. The notice must be a separate written statement and:
(A) State that only one report will be delivered to the shared address unless the company receives contrary instructions;
(B) Include a toll-free telephone number or be accompanied by a reply form that is pre-addressed with postage provided, that the shareholder can use to notify the company that he or she wishes to receive a separate report;
(C) State the duration of the consent;
(D) Explain how a shareholder can revoke consent;
(E) State that the company will begin sending individual copies to a shareholder within 30 days after the company receives revocation of the shareholder's consent; and
(F) Contain the following prominent statement, or similar clear and understandable statement, in bold-face type: “Important Notice Regarding Delivery of Shareholder Materials”. This statement also must appear on the envelope in which the notice is delivered. Alternatively, if the notice is delivered separately from other communications to investors, this statement may appear either on the notice or on the envelope in which the notice is delivered;
The notice should be written in plain English. See § 230.421(d)(2) of this chapter for a discussion of plain English principles.
(iii) The company has not received the reply form or other notification indicating that the shareholder wishes to continue to receive an individual copy of the report, within 60 days after the company sent the notice; and
(iv) The company transmits the report to a post office box or to a residential street address. The company can assume a street address is a residence unless it has information that indicates it is a business.
(3) At least once a year, the company must explain to shareholders who have consented under paragraph (f)(1)(iii) or paragraph (f)(2) of this section how they can revoke their consent. The explanation must be reasonably designed to reach these investors. If a shareholder, orally or in writing, revokes consent to delivery of one report to a shared address, the company must begin sending individual copies to that shareholder within 30 days after the company receives the revocation.
(4) For purposes of this section, address means a street address, a post office box number, an electronic mail address, a facsimile telephone number, or other similar destination to which paper or electronic documents are transmitted, unless otherwise provided in this section. If the company has reason to believe that the address is a street address of a multi-unit building, the address must include the unit number.