e7-14103

[Federal Register: July 20, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 139)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Page 39764-39768]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr20jy07-18]

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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Parts 40 and 41

RIN 3038-AC44

Confidential Information and Commission Records and Information

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is proposing to amend

the procedures for confidential treatment requests by derivatives

transaction execution facilities (DTEF), derivatives clearing

organizations (DCO), or designated contract markets (DCM) for products

and rules submitted via certification procedures or for Commission

review and approval. The proposed rules will provide the exclusive

means of requesting confidential treatment for product and rule

submissions filed under Parts 40 and 41 of the Commission's

regulations. Specifically, DCMs, DTEFs, and DCOs will be required to

follow the customary procedures of requesting confidential treatment of

information submitted to the Commission except: The submitter also will

be required to file a detailed written justification simultaneously

with the request for confidential treatment; and the submitter will be

required to segregate the material deemed confidential in an appendix

to the submission. Additionally, Commission staff may make an initial

determination to grant or deny confidential treatment to such material

before receiving a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

The Commission is proposing these amendments to expedite the

confidential treatment review process and consequently allow the

Commission to provide the public with more immediate access to non-

confidential information.

DATES: Submit comments on or before August 20, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

Mail/Hand Deliver: Eileen A. Donovan, Acting Secretary of

the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette

Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581.

E-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Riva Adriance, Deputy Director for

Market Review, (202) 418-5494; or David

[[Page 39765]]

Steinberg, Attorney Advisor, (202) 418-5102, Division of Market

Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette

Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581. Electronic mail:

[email protected] or [email protected]. This document is also

available at http://www.regulations.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Overview

During the past two years, the Commission has observed an increase

in the number of registered entity filings submitted under Parts 40 and

41 of the Commission's regulations that are accompanied by a request

for confidential treatment.\1\ Most of these requests for confidential

treatment have been submitted to the Commission in connection with

market maker incentive plans.\2\ Under current regulation 145.9(d)(10),

when the Commission receives a request for confidential treatment for

material submitted to the Commission, no determination with respect to

any request for confidential treatment will be made until the

Commission receives a FOIA request for the subject material. After

receipt of the FOIA request, Commission Regulation 145.9(e)(1)

generally requires the Assistant Secretary of the Commission to notify

the submitter that the Commission received a FOIA request for material

subject to the request for confidential treatment.\3\ In most cases,

the Assistant Secretary also requests that the submitter file a

detailed written justification of the confidential treatment request

within ten business days.\4\

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\1\ A registered entity is defined under Section 1a(29) of the

Commodity Exchange Act (Act) as a DCM under Section 5 of the Act

(including Section 5f), a DTEF registered under Section 5a of the

Act, and a DCO registered under Section 5b of the Act. (Section 5f

of the Act, along with Part 41 of the Commission's regulations,

establishes requirements for national securities exchanges, national

securities associations and alternative trading systems registered

with the Securities and Exchange Commission to notice register with

the Commission in order to list security futures products (i.e.,

futures on a single equity security and futures on narrow-based

security indexes)).

\2\ Market maker incentive plans are created by a registered

entity to increase volume of trading and liquidity, typically for

new product launches or in markets that for other reasons have low

trading volume. In general, registered entities have requested

confidential treatment for the name of the market maker(s), the

compensation provided by the registered entity to the market

maker(s), trade priorities (i.e., percentage of the order flow), and

the bid/ask spread level.

\3\ Commission Regulation 145.9(e)(1) provides that if the

Assistant Secretary or his or her designee determines that a FOIA

request seeks material for which confidential treatment has been

requested pursuant to regulation 145.9, the Assistant Secretary or

his or her designee shall require the submitter to file a detailed

written justification of the confidential treatment request within

ten business days (unless under regulation 145.9(d)(7) an extension

of time has been granted) of that determination unless, pursuant to

an earlier FOIA request, a prior determination to release or

withhold the material has been made, the submitter has already

provided sufficient information to grant the request for

confidential treatment, or the material is otherwise in the public

domain.

\4\ Commission Regulation 145.9(d)(7).

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As a result, both the requirement that a FOIA request must be

received to trigger the confidentiality review and the need for

submission of a detailed written justification delays the Commission's

ability to make a timely confidentiality determination as to whether

any information should be made public. Furthermore, in some cases, the

Commission never receives a FOIA request for the subject material,

which prevents the Commission from moving forward with the confidential

treatment review process. While the Commission recognizes limited

circumstances where a registered entity filing a submission under Parts

40 and 41 may be entitled to confidential treatment, the Commission has

a history of generally making certified rules and products and other

rule submissions public and, furthermore, for DCMs, Designation

Criterion 7 and Core Principle 7 often require such publication.\5\

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\5\ The Commission has been publishing rule submissions on the

Commission's website since August of 2003. Prior to this date,

Commission staff had consistently determined that submissions filed

pursuant to Section 5a(a)(12) of the Act were public, and, pursuant

to Appendix A(b)(3) or Part 145, rule filings submitted under

Section 5a(a)(12) were made available in the Commission's reading

room. Section 5a(a)(12) was removed from the Act with the passage of

the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA). As a result,

the Commission amended Appendix A (b)(3) to Part 145. Current

Appendix A (b)(3) to Part 145 requires the Office of the Secretariat

to make registered entity filings relating to rules as defined in

Commission Regulation 40.1 available to the public unless the filing

is covered by a request for confidential treatment. See 69 FR 67503-

67508 (November 18, 2004). The Commission believes the submissions

now filed under Sections 5c(c)(1) and 5c(c)(2) of the Act should,

except in limited circumstances, continue to be made publicly

available as they generally do not cause any competitive harm to the

registered entity.

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B. Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, provides generally

that the public has a right of access to federal agency records except

to the extent such records, or portions of them, are protected from

disclosure by one (or more) of nine exemptions. A submitter requesting

confidential treatment must request in writing that the Commission

afford confidential treatment under FOIA for any information submitted

to the Commission while specifying the grounds on which confidential

treatment is being requested.\6\ A registered entity typically asserts

that the information submitted to the Commission should be exempt from

disclosure pursuant to FOIA exemption (b)(4), 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(4),

because the release of such information will cause competitive harm to

the submitter.\7\ Commission Regulation 145.9 sets forth the procedures

that a submitter of information to the Commission must follow in order

to obtain confidential treatment for such information. That same

provision, however, also permits the Commission to specify

"alternative procedures" for "a particular study, report,

investigation, or other matter." \8\ Consistent with that authority,

the Commission is proposing to specify alternative procedures for

processing requests for confidential treatment of registered entity

filings submitted under Parts 40 and 41 of the Commission's

regulations.

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\6\ Commission Regulation 145.9(d)(1).

\7\ Exemption (b)(4) of FOIA protects trade secrets and

commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is

privileged or confidential. See also Commission Regulation

145.9(d)(ii). Commission Regulation 145.9(d) provides other grounds

for non-disclosure of information, including information that: (1)

Is specifically exempted by a statute that either requires that the

matters be withheld from the public so as to leave no discretion on

the issue or establishes particular criteria for withholding or

refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; (2) would

constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the submitter's

personal privacy; (3) would reveal investigatory records compiled

for law enforcement purposes whose disclosure would constitute an

unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the submitter; and

(4) would reveal investigatory records for law enforcement purposes

when disclosure would interfere with enforcement proceedings or

disclose investigative techniques and procedures, provided that the

claim may be made only by a designated contract market or registered

futures association with regard to its own investigatory records.

\8\ Commission Regulation 145.9(b).

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II. Proposed Amendments

A. Procedures for Requesting Confidential Treatment Under Parts 40 and

41

The Commission is proposing to add paragraph (c) to Commission

Regulation 40.8 to list the procedures that a registered entity must

follow when filing a request for confidential treatment. Section

40.8(c) would provide the exclusive method of requesting confidential

treatment for information required to be filed under Parts 40 and 41.

In addition, the proposal would add new regulations 40.2(a)(3)(iv),

40.6(a)(3)(vi), 41.23(a)(7), and 41.24(a)(6) and amend regulations

40.3(a)(7) and 40.5(a)(8) to direct the

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registered entity requesting confidential treatment to follow the new

procedures specified in Commission Regulation 40.8(c). Proposed

regulation 40.8(c) would further require the registered entity to

follow the procedures in Commission Regulation 145.9 except that: (1) A

detailed written justification of the confidential treatment request

must be filed simultaneously with the submission; and (2) the material

deemed confidential must be filed in an appendix to the request.

Finally, the proposed rules would allow Commission staff to make an

initial determination to grant or deny confidential treatment before

receiving a FOIA request for the subject material.

The requirement that a registered entity follow the procedures in

proposed new regulation 40.8(c) would address the absence of guidance

in the Commission's regulations for a registered entity when filing a

"reasonable justification" along with the request for confidential

treatment for submissions filed under Parts 40 and 41. The proposed

rules would remove the reasonable justification requirement from

Commission Regulations 40.3(a)(7) and 40.5(a)(8) and direct the

submitter to follow the procedures of regulation 40.8(c) with the

filing of the detailed written justification.\9\ Additionally, the

requirement that the registered entity simultaneously file the detailed

written justification with the request for confidential treatment would

eliminate the ten-business-day period permitted under regulation

145.9(e)(1) for the submitter to file the detailed written

justification after receiving notice that a FOIA request has been

received by the Commission. With these changes, the Commission would be

able to conduct a thorough analysis of the detailed written

justification without delay and weigh, in a more deliberate manner, the

potential harm in releasing any portion of the submission against

allowing the public to have more timely access to the non-confidential

information.

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\9\ 67 FR 62873-62880 (October 9, 2002). Amendments to rules

40.3 and 40.5 (which require the registered entity to identify with

particularity information in the submission that will be subject to

a request for confidential treatment and support the request for

confidential treatment with reasonable justification) were made to

conform with language in Commission Regulations 37.5(b)(5) and

38.3(a)(5) (which pertain to applicants for DTEF registration and

contract market designation, respectively) that required the

submitter to include a reasonable justification in support of the

request for confidential treatment. However, Commission Regulations

37.5(b)(5) and 38.3(a)(5) were amended by eliminating the reasonable

justification requirement. Instead, these regulations now require

the applicant to follow the procedures in Commission Regulation

145.9 when requesting confidential treatment. See 69 FR 67811-67817

(November 22, 2004).

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The proposed rules would not affect the ability of the submitter to

object to the denial of a confidential treatment request. Thus, the

submitter would still be able to file an appeal of any adverse

determination with the Commission's Office of the General Counsel.\10\

The Commission also notes that a determination that any part of the

request for confidential treatment should be granted may be

reconsidered if a FOIA request is received by the Commission for the

subject material.

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\10\ Commission Regulation 145.9(g).

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The proposed rule requiring material deemed confidential to be

placed in an appendix to the submission would enable the Commission to

make the non-confidential information available to the public as soon

as it receives the submission. The Commission has observed that

registered entities requesting confidential treatment sometimes ask for

confidentiality for the entire submission. When this happens, the

Commission is unable to make any part of the submission immediately

available to the public, even when it is clear that information

contained in the filing is not confidential and, furthermore, for DCMs,

such publication may be required under Designation Criterion 7 and Core

Principle 7.\11\

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\11\ The Commission notes that provisions under these Parts may

not apply to all registered entities. For example, Section 40.2

applies to all registered entities while 40.3 applies only to DCMs

and DTEFs and not DCOs.

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For example, during the past year, Commission staff has contacted

certain registered entities that requested confidential treatment for

submissions containing market maker incentive plans and requested that

they amend their original submissions by placing the confidential

information in an appendix. This has enabled the Commission to make the

underlying submissions containing the non-confidential information

available to the public. The registered entities have been receptive to

these requests. Based upon this experience, the Commission does not

believe its proposed amendments would place an undue burden on

registered entities requesting confidential treatment. Registered

entities are consequently on notice that requests for confidential

treatment may only cover the appendix to the submission while the

underlying submission would be made immediately available to the

public.

B. Public Availability of Terms and Conditions of Products and

Mechanisms for Executing Transactions on or Through the Facilities of

the Contract Market

The terms and conditions of contracts must be made available to

market authorities, market participants, and the public by the DCM

under Section 5(d)(7) of the Act.\12\ Regulations 40.3(a)(7) and

40.5(a)(8) currently provide that a product's terms and conditions, as

contained in contents of a filing of a submission to the Commission,

are publicly available at the time of their submission. The Commission

believes the requirement that a product's terms and conditions be

publicly available at the time of submission also applies to

submissions containing terms and conditions that are filed under

regulations 40.2, 40.6, 41.23, and 41.24. In an effort to create a more

logical placement in the Commission's regulations for the public

availability of a product's terms and conditions, the Commission

proposes to relocate this provision to new paragraph 40.8(d) under the

Availability of Public Information section of Part 40. This would

ensure that registered entities are fully aware, and the public would

be on notice that this information is available.

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\12\ 67 FR 62874-75 (Oct. 9, 2002). Product terms and conditions

that are made publicly available at the time of their submission to

the Commission enable the Commission to obtain the views of market

participants and others to ascertain whether the proposed product

would be readily susceptible to manipulation, or otherwise violate

the Act. Commission staff routinely conduct trade interviews when

reviewing novel instruments to ascertain the relative susceptibility

of a product to being manipulated. To be meaningful, these

interviews require the release of the proposed instrument's terms

and conditions. Generally, the Commission intends to continue its

long-standing practice of requesting public comment on the terms and

conditions of new products under review for Commission approval by

publication of notices in the Federal Register. In instances where

notice in the Federal Register is impracticable or otherwise

unnecessary, notice of a submission for voluntary approval and of

the public availability of the proposed product's terms and

conditions will be through the Commission's internet Web site

(http://www.cftc.gov).

The terms and conditions of products eligible for trading by

self-certification will be available from the Commission, at the

time that the exchange legally could commence trading--the beginning

of the business day following certification to the Commission.

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The mechanisms for executing transactions on or through the

facilities of the contract market must also be made available to market

authorities, market participants, and the public by the DCM under

Section 5(d)(7) of the Act. The Commission proposes adding language to

new paragraph 40.8(d) to make clear to registered entities that this

information is public and to inform the

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public that this information is also available. The Commission notes

that mechanisms for executing transactions on or through the facilities

of the contract market generally include such information as trading

algorithms and information from an exchange's rulebook that pertain to

trading. Moreover, the Commission notes that requests for confidential

treatment covering the mechanisms for executing transactions on or

through the facilities of the contract market and a product's terms and

conditions will not be processed.

III. Cost-Benefit Analysis

Section 15(a) of the Act, as amended by section 119 of the CFMA,

requires the Commission to consider the costs and benefits of its

action before issuing a new regulation under the Act. By its terms,

section 15(a) as amended does not require the Commission to quantify

the costs and benefits of a new regulation or to determine whether the

benefits of the regulation outweigh its costs. Rather, section 15(a)

simply requires the Commission to "consider the costs and benefits"

of its action.

Section 15(a) of the Act further specifies that costs and benefits

shall be evaluated in light of five broad areas of market and public

concern: Protection of market participants and the public; efficiency,

competitiveness, and financial integrity of futures markets; price

discovery; sound risk management practices; and other public interest

considerations. Accordingly, the Commission could, in its discretion,

give greater weight to any one of the five enumerated areas and could,

in its discretion, determine that, notwithstanding its costs, a

particular regulation was necessary or appropriate to protect the

public interest or to effectuate any of the provisions or to accomplish

any of the purposes of the Act.

The Commission is considering the costs and benefits of these

proposed regulations in light of the specified provisions of section

15(a) of the Act:

1. Protection of market participants and the public. The proposed

amendments should have no effect on the Commission's ability to protect

market participants and the public.

2. Efficiency and competition. The proposed amendments are expected

to benefit efficiency by making the non-confidential information from

registered entity submissions available to the public in a more timely

manner. The Commission anticipates that the costs of compliance with

the confidential treatment procedures will be minimal. The proposed

amendments should have no effect, from the standpoint of imposing costs

or creating benefits, on competition in the futures and options

markets.

3. Financial integrity of futures markets and price discovery. The

amendments should have no effect, from the standpoint of imposing costs

or creating benefits, on the financial integrity or price discovery

function of the futures and options markets.

4. Sound risk management practices. The amendments being proposed

herein should have no effect on the risk management practices of the

futures and options industry.

5. Other public considerations. No additional public considerations

could be determined.

After considering these factors, the Commission has determined to

propose the rules and rule amendments set forth below. The Commission

invites public comment on its application of the cost-benefit

provision. Commenters also are invited to submit any data that they may

have quantifying the costs and benefits of the proposal with their

comment letters.

IV. Related Matters

A. Regulatory Flexibility Act

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. (2000),

requires federal agencies, in proposing regulations, to consider the

impact of those regulations on small entities. The regulations proposed

herein would affect derivatives transaction execution facilities,

designated contract markets, and derivatives clearing organizations.

The Commission has previously determined that the foregoing entities

are not small entities for purposes of the RFA.\13\ Accordingly, the

Acting Chairman, on behalf of the Commission, hereby certifies pursuant

to 5 U.S.C. 605(b) that the proposed regulations will not have a

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

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\13\ 47 FR 18618, 18619 (April 30, 1982) discussing contract

markets; 66 FR 42256, 42268 (August 10, 2001) discussing exempt

boards of trade, exempt commercial markets and derivatives

transaction execution facilities; 66FR 45605, 45609 (August 29,

2001) discussing derivatives clearing organizations.

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B. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

This proposed rulemaking contains information collection

requirements. As required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995

(44 U.S.C. 3504(h)), the Commission has submitted a copy of this

section to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for its review.

Collection of Information: Rules Relating to Part 40, Provisions

Common to DCMs, DTEFs, and DCOs, OMB Control Number 3038-0022.

The expected effect of the proposed amended regulations will be to

increase the burden previously approved by OMB for this collection of

information by 16 hours as it will result in the filing of

approximately five additional pages when a registered entity files a

detailed written justification and confidential appendix under

Commission Regulations 40.2, 40.3, 40.4, 40.5, and 40.6.

The estimated burden was calculated as follows:

Estimated number of respondents: 12.

Annual responses by each respondent: .30.

Total annual responses: 4.

Estimated average hours per response: 4.

Annual reporting burden: 16.

Collection of Information: Rules Relating to Part 41, Security

Futures Products, OMB Control Number 3038-0059.

The expected effect of the proposed amended regulations will be to

increase the burden previously approved by OMB for this collection of

information by 3.6 hours as it will result in the filing of

approximately five additional pages when a registered entity files a

detailed written justification and confidential appendix under

Commission Regulations 41.23 and 41.24.

Estimated number of respondents: 3.

Annual responses by each respondent: .30.

Total annual responses: .90.

Estimated average hours per response: 4.

Annual reporting burden: 3.6.

Organizations and individuals desiring to submit comments on the

information collection requirements should direct them to the Office of

Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,

Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20503; Attention: Desk Officer for the Commodity Futures

Trading Commission.

In compliance with the PRA, the Commission, through these proposed

regulations, solicits comments to: (1) Evaluate whether the proposed

collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of

the functions of the Commission, including whether the information will

have a practical use; (2) evaluate the accuracy of the Commission's

estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information,

including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3)

enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of the information to be

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collected; and (4) minimize the burden of collecting information on

those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate

automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting

electronic submission responses.

OMB is required to make a decision concerning the collection of

information contained in these proposed regulations between 30 and 60

days after publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Therefore, a comment to OMB is best assured of having its full effect

if OMB receives it within 30 days of publication. This does not affect

the deadline for the public to comment to the Commission on the

proposed regulations. Copies of the information collection submission

to OMB are available from the CFTC Clearance Officer, 1155 21st Street,

NW., Washington DC 20581, (202) 418-5160.

List of Subjects

17 CFR Part 40

Commodity futures, Contract markets, Designation application,

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

17 CFR Part 41

Security futures.

For the reasons stated in the preamble, the Commission proposes to

amend 17 CFR parts 40 and 41 as follows:

PART 40--PROVISIONS COMMON TO CONTRACT MARKETS, DERIVATIVES

TRANSACTION EXECUTION FACILITIES AND DERIVATIVES CLEARING

ORGANIZATIONS

1. The authority for part 40 continues to read as follows:

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 1a, 2, 5, 6, 6c, 7, 7a, 8 and 12a, as

amended by appendix E of Pub. L. 106-554, 114 Stat. 2763A-365.

2. Section 40.2 is amended by adding paragraph (a)(3)(v) to read as

follows:

Sec. 40.2 Listing products for trading by certification.

(a) * * *

(3) * * *

(v) A request for confidential treatment as permitted under the

procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

3. Section 40.3 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(7) to read as

follows:

Sec. 40.3 Voluntary submission of new products for Commission review

and approval.

(a) * * *

(7) Include a request for confidential treatment as permitted under

the procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

4. Section 40.5 is amended by revising paragraph (a)(8) to read as

follows:

Sec. 40.5 Voluntary submission of rules for Commission review and

approval.

(a) * * *

(8) Include a request for confidential treatment as permitted under

the procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

5. Section 40.6 is amended by adding new paragraph (a)(3)(vi) to

read as follows:

Sec. 40.6 Self-certification of rules by designated contract markets

and registered derivatives clearing organizations.

(a) * * *

(3) * * *

(vi) A request for confidential treatment as permitted under the

procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

6. Section 40.8 is amended by adding new paragraphs (c) and (d) to

read as follows:

Sec. 40.8 Availability of public information.

* * * * *

(c) A registered entity's filing of new products under the self-

certification procedures, new products for Commission review and

approval, new rules and rule amendments for Commission review and

approval, and new rules and rule amendments submitted under the self-

certification procedures will be treated as public information unless

covered by a request for confidential treatment. If a registered entity

files a request for confidential treatment, the procedures in Sec.

145.9 of this chapter shall apply with the following exceptions:

(1) A detailed written justification of the confidential treatment

request must be filed simultaneously with the request for confidential

treatment;

(2) The material deemed confidential must be segregated in an

appendix to the submission; and

(3) Commission staff may make an initial determination with respect

to the request for confidential treatment before receiving a request

under the Freedom of Information Act for the material for which

confidential treatment is being sought.

(d) A registered entity's filing regarding a product's terms and

conditions and the mechanisms for executing transactions on or through

the facilities of the contract market will be made publicly available

at the time of submission and requests for confidential treatment

covering this information will be denied.

PART 41--SECURITY FUTURES PRODUCTS

7. The authority citation for part 41 continues to read as follows:

Authority: Sections 206, 251 and 252, Pub. L. 106-554, 114 Stat.

2763, 7 U.S.C. 1a, 2, 6f, 6j, 7a-2, 12a; 15 U.S.C. 78g(c)(2).

8. Section 41.23 is amended by adding new paragraph (a)(7) to read

as follows:

Sec. 41.23 Listing of security futures products for trading.

(a) * * *

(7) Includes a request for confidential treatment as permitted

under the procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

9. Section 41.24 is amended by adding new paragraph (a)(6) to read

as follows:

Sec. 41.24 Rule amendments to security futures products.

(a) * * *

(6) Includes a request for confidential treatment as permitted

under the procedures of Sec. 40.8.

* * * * *

Issued in Washington, DC, on July 17, 2007 by the Commission.

Eileen A. Donovan,

Acting Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. E7-14103 Filed 7-19-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351-01-P

Last Updated: July 27, 2007