(a)
The Registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to its principal
executive officers and principal financial and accounting officer.
(f)
Pursuant to Item 13(a)(1), the Registrant is attaching as an exhibit a copy of
its code of ethics that applies to its principal executive officers and
principal financial and accounting officer.
Item
3. Audit Committee Financial Expert.
(a)(1)
The Registrant has an audit committee financial expert serving on its audit
committee.
(2)
The audit
committee financial expert is Mary C. Choksi and she is "independent"
as defined under the relevant Securities and Exchange Commission Rules and
Releases.
Principal Accountant Fees and Services.
(a) Audit Fees
The aggregate fees paid to the principal accountant
for professional services rendered by the principal accountant for the audit of
the registrant’s annual financial statements or for services that are normally
provided by the principal accountant in connection with statutory and
regulatory filings or engagements were $75,823 for the fiscal year ended June
30, 2020 and $93,367 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.
(b) Audit-Related Fees
There were no fees paid to the principal accountant for assurance and related services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit of the registrant's financial statements and are not reported under paragraph (a) of Item 4.
There were no fees paid to the principal accountant for assurance and related services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant's investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit of their financial statements.
(c) Tax Fees
There were no fees paid to the principal accountant for professional services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning.
The aggregate fees paid to the principal accountant for professional services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant’s investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning were $0 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 and $20,000 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. The services for which these fees were paid included professional fees in connection with tax treatment of equipment lease transactions and professional fees in connection with an Indonesia withholding tax refund claim.
(d) All Other Fees
The aggregate fees paid to the principal accountant for products and services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant not reported in paragraphs (a)-(c) of Item 4 were $7,043 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 and $0 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. The services for which these fees were paid included review of materials provided to the fund Board in connection with the investment management contract renewal process.
The aggregate fees paid to the principal accountant for products and services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant’s investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant not reported in paragraphs (a)-(c) of Item 4 were $137,944 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 and $14,500 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019. The services for which these fees were paid included valuation services related to a fair value engagement and benchmarking services in connection with the ICI TA survey.
(e)
(1) The registrant’s audit committee is directly responsible for approving the
services to be provided by the auditors, including:
(i) pre-approval
of all audit and audit related services;
(ii) pre-approval
of all non-audit related services to be provided to the Fund by the auditors;
(iii) pre-approval
of all non-audit related services to be provided to the registrant by the
auditors to the registrant’s investment adviser or to any entity that controls,
is controlled by or is under common control with the registrant’s investment
adviser and that provides ongoing services to the registrant where the
non-audit services relate directly to the operations or financial reporting of
the registrant; and
(iv) establishment
by the audit committee, if deemed necessary or appropriate, as an alternative
to committee pre-approval of services to be provided by the auditors, as
required by paragraphs (ii) and (iii) above, of policies and procedures to
permit such services to be pre-approved by other means, such as through
establishment of guidelines or by action of a designated member or members of
the committee; provided the policies and procedures are detailed as to the
particular service and the committee is informed of each service and such
policies and procedures do not include delegation of audit committee
responsibilities, as contemplated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to
management; subject, in the case of (ii) through (iv), to any waivers,
exceptions or exemptions that may be available under applicable law or rules.
(e) (2) None of the services provided to the registrant described in paragraphs (b)-(d) of Item 4 were approved by the audit committee pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of regulation S-X.
(f) No disclosures are required by this Item 4(f).
(g) The aggregate non-audit fees paid to the principal accountant for services rendered by the principal accountant to the registrant and the registrant’s investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant were $144,987 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020 and $34,500 for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019.
(h) The registrant’s audit committee of the board has considered whether the provision of non-audit services that were rendered to the registrant’s investment adviser (not including any sub-adviser whose role is primarily portfolio management and is subcontracted with or overseen by another investment adviser), and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the registrant that were not pre-approved pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(ii) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X is compatible with maintaining the principal accountant’s independence.
Item
5. Audit Committee
of Listed
Registrants.
N/A Item
6. Schedule of Investments. N/A
Item
7
. Disclosure
of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures for
Closed-End Management Investment Companies. N/A
Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Management
Investment Companies. N/A
Item 9
. Purchases of Equity
Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Company and Affiliated
Purchasers. N/A
Item
10
. Submission
of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
There have been no changes to the procedures by which
shareholders may recommend nominees to the Registrant's Board of Trustees that
would require disclosure herein.
Item
11. Controls and Procedures.
(a)
Evaluation of
Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Registrant maintains
disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to provide reasonable
assurance that information required to be disclosed in the Registrant’s filings
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Investment
Company Act of 1940 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the
periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Such information is accumulated and communicated to the
Registrant’s management, including its principal executive officer and
principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions
regarding required disclosure. The Registrant’s management, including the
principal executive officer and the principal financial officer, recognizes
that any set of controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and
operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired
control objectives.
Within 90 days prior to the
filing date of this Shareholder Report on Form N-CSR, the Registrant had
carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of
the Registrant’s management, including the Registrant’s principal executive
officer and the Registrant’s principal financial officer, of the effectiveness
of the design and operation of the Registrant’s disclosure controls and
procedures. Based on such evaluation, the Registrant’s principal executive
officer and principal financial officer concluded that the Registrant’s
disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
(b)
Changes in Internal Controls
. During the period covered by this report, a
third-party service provider commenced performing certain accounting and
administrative services for the Registrant that are subject to Franklin
Templeton’s oversight.
Item
12. Disclosure of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management
Investment Company.
N/A
(a)(2)
Certifications pursuant to
Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 of
Matthew T. Hinkle
, Chief Executive Officer -
Finance and Administration, and
Gaston Gardey
, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting
Officer
(b)
Certifications pursuant to
Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 of
Matthew T. Hinkle
, Chief Executive Officer -
Finance and Administration, and
Gaston Gardey
, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting
Officer
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment
Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
INSTITUTIONAL
FIDUCIARY TRUST
By _
S\MATTHEW T. HINKLE________________________
Chief Executive Officer – Finance and
Administration
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment
Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons
on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
By
S\MATTHEW T. HINKLE_________________________
Chief Executive Officer – Finance and
Administration
By
S\GASTON GARDEY_________________________
Chief Financial Officer
and Chief Accounting Officer