(a) General. Any face-amount certificate company, open-end management company or unit investment trust (“issuer”) that is deemed to have registered an indefinite amount of securities pursuant to section 24(f) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-24(f)) must not later than 90 days after the end of any fiscal year during which it has publicly offered such securities, file Form 24F-2 (17 CFR 274.24) with the Commission. Form 24F-2 must be prepared in accordance with the requirements of that form, and must be accompanied by the payment of a registration fee with respect to the securities sold during the fiscal year in reliance upon registration pursuant to section 24(f) of the Act calculated in the manner specified in section 24(f) of the Act and in the Form. An issuer that pays the registration fee more than 90 days after the end of its fiscal year must pay interest in the manner specified in section 24(f) of the Act and in Form 24F-2.

(b) Issuer ceasing operations; mergers and other transactions. For purposes of this section, if an issuer ceases operations, the date the issuer ceases operations will be deemed to be the end of its fiscal year. In the case of a liquidation, merger, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets (“merger”) of the issuer, the issuer will be deemed to have ceased operations for the purposes of this section on the date the merger is consummated; provided, however, that in the case of a merger of an issuer or a series of an issuer (“Predecessor Issuer”) with another issuer or a series of an issuer (“Successor Issuer”), the Predecessor Issuer will not be deemed to have ceased operations and the Successor issuer will assume the obligations, fees, and redemption credits of the Predecessor Issuer incurred pursuant to section 24(f) of the Act and §270.24e-2 (as in effect prior to October 11, 1997; see 17 CFR part 240 to end, revised as of April 1, 1997) if the Successor Issuer:

(1) had no assets or liabilities, other than nominal assets or liabilities, and no operating history immediately prior to the merger;

(2) Acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed substantially all of the liabilities and obligations of the Predecessor Issuer; and

(3) The merger is not designed to result in the Predecessor Issuer merging with, or substantially all of its assets being acquired by, an issuer (or a series of an issuer) that would not meet the conditions of paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

(c) Counting days. To determine the date on which Form 24F-2 must be filed with the Commission under paragraph (a) of this section, the first day of the 90-day period is the first calendar day of the fiscal year following the fiscal year for which the Form is to be filed. If the last day of the 90-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, the period ends on the first business day thereafter.

[62 FR 47938, Sept. 12, 1997]