SEC Form NSAR-BT

SEC Form NSAR-BT is used for an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that registered investment management companies make as part of their NSAR form filing requirement. This filing is made in lieu of the standard filing at the end of a year in which the company is in transition due to changing the date of their fiscal year-end. The NSAR form, which is specific to registered investment management companies, requires those companies to disclose some financial information (i.e. sales of shares, portfolio turnover rate, etc.) included in the company's annual and/or semi-annual shareholder reports.

Form NSAR and all of its related filings are covered under Section 30 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act") and Sections 13 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which require investment companies and trusts to file semi-annual and annual reports with the SEC.

On October 13, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted rules, forms, and amendments to certain existing rules and forms to modernize and enhance the reporting and disclosure obligations of registered investment companies. As part of these changes, the SEC adopted Form N-CEN to replace Form N-SAR. It requires affected registered investment companies to annually report certain census-type information. Form N-CEN requires all registered investment companies (except face-amount certificate companies) to report detailed census-type information on an annual basis. This new form streamlines and updates information currently reported to the SEC under Form N-SAR. Form N-CEN must be filed within 75 days of the end of a registered investment company’s fiscal year, rather than semi-annually as is currently required by Form N-SAR for most funds.

Form N-CEN includes many of the same data elements as Form N-SAR, but, in order to improve the quality and utility of information reported, replaces those items that are outdated or of limited usefulness with items that the SEC believes to be of greater relevance today. Also, Form N-CEN streamlines and updates information reported to the SEC to reflect current information needs, such as requiring more information on exchange-traded funds and securities lending. Where possible, Form N-CEN also reflects the elimination of items that are reported on other SEC forms, or are available elsewhere.

While many of the information items on Form N-SAR carry forward to Form N-CEN, the new form also requires a host of new information, including:

• Background information about the registrant, such as its LEI number, CIK number, the fund’s public website, and location of books and records
• Information on whether the registrant issues a class of securities registered under the Securities Act of 1933
• Information regarding a fund’s board of directors
• Various information relating to a fund’s chief compliance officer (CCO), including the name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) of any entity other than the fund or an affiliated person of the fund that provides compensation to the CCO
• Information regarding securities lending activities
• Whether the fund received financial support from an affiliated entity