<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 09/30/97
000 C000000 0000771879
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 COWEN STANDBY TAX-EXEMPT RESERVE FUND, INC.
001 B000000 811-4344
001 C000000 2124956000
002 A000000 FINANCIAL SQUARE
002 B000000 NEW YORK
002 C000000 NY
002 D010000 10005
002 D020000 3597
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
007 C011100 11
007 C011200 12
007 C011300 13
007 C011400 14
007 C011500 15
007 C011600 16
007 C011700 17
007 C011800 18
007 C011900 19
007 C012000 20
008 A000001 COWEN & CO.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-7380
008 D010001 NEW YORK
008 D020001 NY
008 D030001 10005
008 D040001 3597
011 A000001 COWEN & CO.
<PAGE> PAGE 2
011 B000001 8-01682
011 C010001 NEW YORK
011 C020001 NY
011 C030001 10005
011 C040001 3597
012 A000001 INVESTORS FIDUCIARY TRUST COMPANY
012 B000001 85-00535
012 C010001 KANSAS CITY
012 C020001 MO
012 C030001 64105
013 A000001 ERNST & YOUNG
013 B010001 NEW YORK
013 B020001 NY
013 B030001 10019
014 A000001 COWEN & CO.
014 B000001 8-01682
015 A000001 INVESTORS FIDUCIARY TRUST CO.
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 KANSAS CITY
015 C020001 MO
015 C030001 64105
015 E010001 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 15
019 C000000 COWEN & CO
020 C000001 0
020 C000002 0
020 C000003 0
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 0
022 A000001 LEHMAN BROTHERS
022 B000001 13-2518466
022 C000001 127185
022 D000001 38960
022 A000002 MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH, INC.
022 B000002 13-5674085
022 C000002 66860
022 D000002 32165
022 A000003 SMITH BARNEY, INC.
022 B000003 13-1912900
022 C000003 39962
022 D000003 6000
022 A000004 J.P. MORGAN
022 B000004 13-3224016
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 C000004 16400
022 D000004 1200
022 A000005 BROWN (ALEX) & SONS, INC.
022 B000005 52-1319768
022 C000005 10000
022 D000005 2000
022 A000006 ZIONS NATIONAL BANK
022 B000006 43-1179553
022 C000006 10117
022 D000006 0
022 A000007 OPPENHEIMER & CO., INC.
022 B000007 13-2798343
022 C000007 5601
022 D000007 0
022 A000008 PIPER JAFRAY & HOPWOOD, INC.
022 B000008 41-1422918
022 C000008 2500
022 D000008 2500
022 A000009 GATES CAPITAL, INC.
022 B000009 13-3636543
022 C000009 0
022 D000009 2900
022 A000010 PNC
022 B000010 25-1471636
022 C000010 0
022 D000010 1000
023 C000000 279327
023 D000000 86725
024 000000 N
025 D000001 0
025 D000002 0
025 D000003 0
025 D000004 0
025 D000005 0
025 D000006 0
025 D000007 0
025 D000008 0
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027 000000 Y
028 A010000 89923
028 A020000 405
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 92824
<PAGE> PAGE 4
028 B010000 54726
028 B020000 553
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 60662
028 C010000 71265
028 C020000 422
028 C030000 0
028 C040000 68808
028 D010000 75313
028 D020000 442
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 68141
028 E010000 54228
028 E020000 534
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 51060
028 F010000 63162
028 F020000 436
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 61751
028 G010000 408617
028 G020000 2792
028 G030000 0
028 G040000 403246
028 H000000 0
029 000000 N
030 A000000 0
030 B000000 0.00
030 C000000 0.00
031 A000000 0
031 B000000 0
032 000000 0
033 000000 0
034 000000 Y
035 000000 0
036 A000000 N
036 B000000 0
037 000000 N
038 000000 0
039 000000 N
040 000000 N
041 000000 N
042 A000000 0
042 B000000 0
042 C000000 0
042 D000000 0
042 E000000 0
042 F000000 0
042 G000000 0
042 H000000 0
043 000000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 5
044 000000 0
045 000000 Y
046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.500
048 A010000 0
048 A020000 0.000
048 B010000 0
048 B020000 0.000
048 C010000 0
048 C020000 0.000
048 D010000 0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000 0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 0
048 K020000 0.000
049 000000 N
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
053 A000000 Y
053 B000000 Y
053 C000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 Y
054 C000000 Y
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
054 G000000 Y
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 Y
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 Y
055 B000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 6
056 000000 Y
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061 000000 100
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.0
062 C000000 0.0
062 D000000 0.0
062 E000000 99.3
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 0.0
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 0.0
062 M000000 0.0
062 N000000 0.0
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 0.0
062 Q000000 0.0
062 R000000 0.0
063 A000000 45
063 B000000 0.0
064 A000000 Y
064 B000000 N
066 A000000 N
067 000000 N
068 A000000 N
068 B000000 N
069 000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 N
070 B010000 N
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 N
070 C020000 N
070 D010000 N
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 N
070 E020000 N
070 F010000 N
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 N
070 G020000 N
070 H010000 N
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 7
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 N
070 K010000 N
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 N
070 L020000 N
070 M010000 N
070 M020000 N
070 N010000 Y
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 N
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 N
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 0
071 B000000 0
071 C000000 0
071 D000000 0
072 A000000 12
072 B000000 6563
072 C000000 0
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 0
072 F000000 906
072 G000000 0
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 108
072 J000000 43
072 K000000 0
072 L000000 3
072 M000000 24
072 N000000 57
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 0
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 31
072 S000000 6
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 0
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 12
072 X000000 1190
072 Y000000 181
072 Z000000 5554
072AA000000 0
072BB000000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 8
072CC010000 0
072CC020000 0
072DD010000 5554
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 0
073 A010000 0.0307
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 0.0000
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 408
074 B000000 0
074 C000000 185905
074 D000000 0
074 E000000 0
074 F000000 0
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 0
074 J000000 0
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 1202
074 M000000 25
074 N000000 187540
074 O000000 0
074 P000000 66
074 Q000000 0
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
074 R040000 261
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 187213
074 U010000 187232
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 1.00
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.9999
074 X000000 4442
074 Y000000 0
075 A000000 181055
075 B000000 0
076 000000 0.00
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
080 A000000 VIGILANT INSURANCE CO.
080 C000000 3100
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 5
082 A000000 N
082 B000000 0
083 A000000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 9
083 B000000 0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000 0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000 0
086 A020000 0
086 B010000 0
086 B020000 0
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
SIGNATURE CREIGHTON H. PEET
TITLE TREASURER
Report of Independent Auditors
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Cowen Standby Tax-Exempt Reserve Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of Cowen Standby Tax-Exempt Reserve Fund, Inc. for the year ended
September 30, 1997,we considered its internal control, including
control activities for safeguarding securities, in order to
determine our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing
our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the
requirements of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on the
internal control.
The management of Cowen Standby Tax-Exempt Reserve Fund, Inc. is
responsible for establishing and maintaining internal control.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and
related costs of controls. Generally, controls that are relevant
to an audit pertain to the entity's objective of preparing
financial statements for external purposes that are fairly
presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting
principles. Those controls include the safeguarding of assets
against unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal control, errors or
irregularities may occur and not be detected. Also, projection
of any evaluation of internal control to future periods is
subject to the risk that it may become inadequate because of
changes in conditions or that the effectiveness of the design and
operation may deteriorate.
Our consideration of the internal control would not necessarily
disclose all matters in the internal control that might be
material weaknesses under standards established by the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants. A material weakness
is a condition in which the design or operation of one or more of
the internal control components does not reduce to a relatively
low level the risk that errors or irregularities in amounts that
would be material in relation to the financial statements being
audited may occur and not be detected within a timely period by
employees in the normal course of performing their assigned
functions. However, we noted no matters involving the internal
control and its operation, including controls for safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be material weaknesses as defined
above at September 30, 1997.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of the
board of directors and management of Cowen Standby Tax-Exempt
Reserve Fund, Inc. and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
ERNST & YOUNG LLP
New York, New York
October 31, 1997
