Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Freedom of Information Act Annual Report
for Calendar Year 1997 (January – September)

1. Total Number of (Partial or Total) Initial Denials
2. Authority
3. Names and Titles of Persons who made Initial Denials
4. Total Number of Appeals
5. Authority for Denial of Appeals
6. Names and Titles of Persons who made Denials of Appeals
7. Copies of Court Opinions or Orders Under Subsection (a)(4)(F)
8. Rules and Regulations Issued
9. Fee Schedule
10. Efforts to Administer

Of 389 initial requests received by the Commission in Calendar Year 1997 (January - September):

178 were granted in total;

96 were granted in part and denied in part;

10 were denied in total;

22 were withdrawn; and

83 resulted in a response from the Commission that a thorough search of those filing systems which could reasonably be expected to yield responsive information had located no such documents.

All 389 requests have received a final initial response.

No CY 1997 requests were still pending/being processed as of February 1, 1998.

a. § 552(b) Exemptions

* Because of the nature of the records being sought, many totally or partially denied requests required the invoking of two or more of these exemptions.

b. Statute(s) Invoked Pursuant to Exemption 3

Section 8(a), Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. § 12. [Invoked 51 times]

Edward W. Colbert 114 denials

Assistant Secretary for
Freedom of Information Act Matters

Joan Gill 32 denials

Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Freedom of Information Act Matters

Appeals Granted in Full: 2

Appeals Denied in Full: 6

Appeals Denied in Part: 0

Appeals Withdrawn: 2

Appeals Remanded for Additional First Level Processing: 0

Appeals from CY 97 Pending on February 1, 1998: 2

* Includes appeals under FOIA which were consolidated with related appeals from staff denials of confidential treatment. Does not include appeals solely to determine petitions for confidential treatment under Commission Rule 145.9, 17 CFR 145.9. A decision on such a petition is only made upon receipt of a FOIA request for the covered documents. The administrative process parallels the process for determining FOIA requests--an initial determination with the right to appeal to the agency an adverse determination. Four confidential treatment appeals were processed by the Office of the General Counsel in CY 1997. All four appeals were denied in full.

a. § 552(b) Exemptions

b. Statute(s) Invoked Pursuant to Exemption 3 Section 8(a), Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. § 12.
[Invoked 2 times]

Daniel R. Waldman
General Counsel

Copies of Special Counsel, Merit Systems Protection Board Findings and Recommendations: None

Report of Disciplinary Action Taken: None

Commission Records and Information, 62 Fed. Reg. 17,068 (1997) (to be codified at 17 C.F.R. § 145).

Amount Collected: $ 11,244.00 -- This figure does not include fees of $2,473.33 billed to requesters in CY 97 for which payment has not yet been received.

a. New Categories: None

b. Costs: Administrative costs were absorbed by the agency.

c. Compliance with Time Limitations: No CY 1997 requests were still pending/being processed as of February 1, 1998.

d. Unpublished but Publicly-Available Internal Memoranda or Instructions: None