American Funds Service Company
                                                         P.O. Box 2205
                                                   Brea, CA 92821-2205
                                               Telephone (213)486-9426
                                                    Fax (213) 486-9041
     
                                                    November 27, 1996
     
     
Jonathan G. Katz
Secretary
United States Securities & Exchange Commission 
450 5th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20549
     
Re:  Proposed Rules 17AD-17 and 17a-24; File No. S7-21-96
     
Dear Mr. Katz:
                                                        
American Funds Service Company  appreciates the opportunity to respond 
to the Commission s request for comments on the proposals discussed in 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 37595 (Aug. 22, 1996).  The
Commission s proposed Rule 17AD-7 is designed to reduce the incidence 
of lost securityholders by requiring transfer agents to conduct 
multiple searches within specific time frames to locate lost 
securityholders, and Rule 17a-24 would allow the collection of certain
information regarding  lost securityholders with a view to public 
dissemination of some or all of that information.
     
In general, American Funds Service Company supports the Commission's 
efforts in this area and concurs with the comments of the Investment 
Company Institute submitted in its response dated November 27, 1996.  
We respectfully request that the Commission implement those
comments and, in addition, permit mutual fund transfer agents to make 
a lost securityholder designation after the first piece of mail is 
returned as undeliverable (rather than forcing a remailing of the 
returned correspondence).  In addition, we agree with the Investment 
Company Institute s opposition to the proposal to build a database of 
lost securityholders social security numbers.  We feel strongly that 
the potential for fraud far outweighs any benefit that could be 
associated with a database, and are concerned that such a database 
would require daily feeds (at significant cost) from transfer agents 
in order to keep the information current.
     
American Funds Service Company ("AFS")  is registered with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission under Section 17A of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 as a transfer agent.  It is the transfer agent and
shareholder servicing agent for 39 investment companies including 
The American Funds Group of Mutual Funds and maintains approximately 
8 million shareholder accounts.

Again, American Funds Service Company appreciates the opportunity to 
comment on the proposed rules designed to address lost securityholders 
and respectfully requests consideration of the views expressed in
the letter from the Investment Company Institute.  If you have any 
questions, or would like to discuss these comments in more detail 
please feel free to call the undersigned at (213) 486-9253.
     
                                    Sincerely,
     
                                    Kenneth R. Gorvetzian
                                    Secretary