Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Freedom of Information Act Annual Report
for Fiscal Year 1998

(October 1, 1997 to September 30, 1998)

I. Basic Information Regarding Report
II. How to Make a FOIA Request
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
V. Initial FOIA/PA Requests
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
VIII. Comparison of Previous Year(s)
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
X. Fees
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

1. Basic Information Regarding Report

With questions about this report, please contact:

Eileen A. Donovan
Attorney-Advisor

FOIA Compliance Office
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20581
Tel.: 202-418-5096

To locate the report on the World Wide Web, please visit the CFTC web site at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiaannrept98.htm.

To obtain a copy of the report in paper form, please submit the Electronic FOIA Request Form found on the CFTC website at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foifoiaform.htm or send a written request to:

FOIA Compliance Office
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20581

2. How to Make a FOIA Request

Please see "E-FOIA Guide to CFTC Information" ( www.cftc.gov/foia/foiaguide.htm ) or "Requesting Records Under the FOIA" ( www.cftc.gov/foia/foihowtofoia.htm ) on the CFTC web site.

3. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

1. FOIA/PA request – Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request. A FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third party, an organization, or a particular topic of interest. A Privacy Act request is a request for records concerning oneself; such requests are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report.)
2. Initial Request – a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.
3. Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access to records under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.
4. Processed Request or Appeal – a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.
5. Multi-track processing – a system in which simple requests requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks. Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first-out basis. A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited processing (see below).
6. Expedited processing – an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.
7. Simple request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested.
8. Complex request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.
9. Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
10. Partial grant – an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA’s exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.
11. Denial – an agency decision not to release any part of a record or records in response to a FOIA request because all the information in the requested records is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA’s exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request).
12. Time limits – the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).
13. "Perfected" request – a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency or agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.
14. Exemption 3 statute – a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its withholding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).
15. Median number – the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
16. Average number – the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

4. Exemption 3 Statutes

The only Exemption 3 statute relied on by the Commission during fiscal year 1998 is Section 8(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. § 12(a) (1994). Section 8(a) prohibits the release of data and information that would disclose the business transactions or market positions of any person and trade secrets or names of customers, and any data or information concerning or obtained in connection with any pending investigation of any person. The use of Section 8(a) has not been challenged in court.

5. Initial FOIA/PA Requests

1. Numbers of initial requests

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 27
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 424
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 408
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 16

2. Disposition of initial requests

1. Number of total grants: 168
2. Number of partial grants: 110
3. Number of denials: 25

1. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request):

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 121

6. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

1. Numbers of appeals.

1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 20
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 20

2. Disposition of appeals.

1. Number completely upheld: 14
2. Number partially reversed: 6 (including 3 remanded for further processing)
3. Number completely reversed: 0

1. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per appeal):

7. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

1. Median processing time for requests processed during the year.

1. All requests (multiple tracks not used).
   1. Number of requests processed: 408
   2. Median number of days to process: 14.5
2. Requests accorded expedited processing.
   1. number of requests processed: 0
   2. median number of days to process n/a

2. Status of pending requests.

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 16
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 13

8. Comparison with Previous Year(s) (Optional)

9. Costs/FOIA Staffing

1. Staffing levels.

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 3
2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): 1.5
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 4.5

2. Total costs (including staff and all resources).

1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $228,000
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $9,000
3. Total costs: $237,000
4. Comparisons with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional)

3. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (optional)

10. Fees

1. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $12,130
2. Percentage of total costs: 5.1%

11. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

The CFTC FOIA regulations, 17 C.F.R. § 145 (1998), can be found on the CFTC web site at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foi17cfr145.htm