2011-7943
Federal Register, Volume 76 Issue 64 (Monday, April 4, 2011)[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18536-18537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7943]
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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review
AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44
U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (PRA), this notice announces that the Information
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR
describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
costs and burden.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 4, 2011.
For Further Information or a Copy Contact: Susan Nathan, Senior
Special Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, (202) 418-5133; e-mail: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, Federal agencies must obtain
approval from OMB for each collection of information they collect or
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)
and 5 CFR 1320.3 and includes agency requests or requirements that
members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide
information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day
notice in the Federal Register for each proposed collection of
information before submitting the collection to OMB for approval.
Accordingly, on January 11, 2011 the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (Commission or CFTC) published such a notice in the Federal
Register, in connection with a recently adopted interim final rule for
reporting pre-enactment swap transactions.\1\ The comment period closed
on March 14, 2011; one comment was received.\2\
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\1\ The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on this collection of information was published
on January 11, 2011. 76 FR 1603.
\2\ Letter dated March 14, 2011, from trade associations
comprising the ``Not-for-Profit Electric End User Coalition''
(Coalition). The Coalition challenged the CFTC's estimates with
respect to the number and diversity of affected entities. In
response to this comment, the Commission has revised its estimates;
these revisions are reflected in the instant notice as well as in
the ICR forwarded to OMB.
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OMB regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which implement provisions of the
PRA, further require that on or before the date of submission to OMB of
an ICR, an agency shall publish in the Federal Register a notice
stating that OMB approval is being sought and requesting that comments
be submitted to OMB within 30 days of the notice's publication. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB
control number. Accordingly, the Commission has submitted a request to
OMB for approval of a collection of information for 17 CFR part 44--
Interim Final Rule for Reporting Pre-Enactment Swap Transactions. The
Commission is requesting a 3-year term of approval for this information
collection activity.
Abstract: Section 729 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) \3\ required the Commission to adopt,
within 90 days of enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, an interim final
rule for the reporting of swap transactions entered into before July
21, 2010 whose terms had not expired as of that date (``pre-enactment
unexpired swaps''). Pursuant to this mandate, the CFTC adopted an
interim final rule requiring specified parties to pre-enactment
unexpired swap transactions to report certain information related to
those transactions to a swap data repository (SDR) or to the Commission
by a compliance date to be established in reporting rules required
under Section 2(h)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), or within 60
days after an appropriate SDR becomes registered under Section 21 of
the CEA and commences operations, whichever occurs first. An
interpretative note to the rule advises that, in order to comply with
the reporting provisions of the rule, reporting parties that may be
required to report to an SDR or to the CFTC will need to preserve
information related to the terms of such swaps.
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\3\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
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The Commission initially estimated that approximately 1,800
entities would be affected by this rule. That number was based on the
current estimate of the number of swap dealers (250), major swap
participants (50) and other counterparties (1,500).\4\ Because the
Commission has not heretofore regulated the swap market, it has not
previously collected data to support its estimate. In its comment
letter, the Coalition correctly observed that this estimate did not
take into account roughly 2,900 members of the Coalition. Moreover, the
Commission has estimated that there are roughly 30,000 non-financial
entities engaging in swap transactions \5\ (including the Coalition
members) which may be subject to the requirements of the interim final
rule. Accordingly, the initial estimate of 1,800 affected entities has
been revised to 32,000.
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\4\ 76 FR 1603, 1604.
\5\ See CFTC NPRM: End-User Exception to Mandatory Clearing of
Swaps, 75 FR 80747, 80756 (Dec. 23, 2010). The Commission estimates
that there are approximately 30,000 end users who are counterparties
to a swap in a given year. While it is possible that the number of
end users having pre-enactment swap transactions to report will be
significantly lower, the 30,000 figure is the more conservative
estimate.
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Because the interim final rule requires only that affected entities
maintain data in its current form, and imposes no collection,
manipulation, compilation or reporting of the data, the Commission
initially estimated that the hourly burden would be de minimis.\6\ The
Coalition suggests that the burden to be measured is not the time it
would take each affected entity to advise its employees to retain
particular records, but would also include time spent in reviewing,
interpreting and analyzing the CEA, the Commission's jurisdiction over
pre-enactment unexpired swaps, and the relevance of the interim final
rule to the particular industry. Finally, the Coalition notes that the
burden to ``collect and retain'' records is only a first step; should
the Commission require any manipulation, compilation or interpretation
of the data the burden will be significantly higher. The Commission has
considered these comments and for the following reasons has concluded
that its estimate is not inconsistent with the burden imposed by the
interim final rule. The rule requires merely that affected parties
retain data related to swap transactions to the extent that and in
whatever form they currently keep such data until such time as
permanent rules governing data recordkeeping and reporting are proposed
and adopted by the Commission. None of the activities cited by the
Coalition are contemplated by the interim final rule.
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\6\ 76 FR 1603, 1604. The estimated average hourly burden was
estimated at .5 hours.
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Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is
estimated to average .5 hours per response. This
[[Page 18537]]
estimate includes the time to locate the data related to the pre-
enactment unexpired swap transaction and the time to ensure that the
data is maintained in such form as it currently exists. The total
annual cost burden per respondent is estimated to be $21.05. The
Commission based its calculation on an hourly wage rate of $42.05 for a
Programmer to maintain the data.\7\
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\7\ In arriving at a wage rate for the hourly costs imposed,
Commission staff used the Management & Professional Earnings in the
Securities Industry Report, published in 2010 by the Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Associations (2010 Report). The sage
rate used the median salary of a Programmer as published in the 2010
Report and divided that figure by 2000 annual working hours to
arrive at the hourly rate of $42.05. Because the interim final rule
requires only that existing data be maintained in its current form,
a programmer will be able to perform this task.
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Respondents/Affected Entities: Swap dealers, Major Swap
Participants, and other counterparties to a swap transaction (i.e.,
end-user, non-SD/non-MSP counterparties).
Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,000.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 16,000 hours.
Frequency of Collection: Once.
ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect
of the information collection, including suggestions for reducing the
burden, may be submitted directly to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in OMB, by e-mail at
[email protected]. Please provide the Commission with a copy
of all submitted comments at the address listed below. Please refer to
OMB Reference No. 201101-3038-002, found on http://reginfo.gov.
Comments may also be submitted to: Susan Nathan, Senior Special
Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading
Commission, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 2058; e-mail the
Agency's Web site at http://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments through the Web site.
Comments may also be mailed to: David Stawick, Secretary of the
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette
Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581 or by Hand
Delivery/Courier at the same address.
A copy of the supporting statements for the collection of
information discussed above may be obtained by visiting RegInfo.gov.
Issued by the Commission, this 30th day of March 2011.
David Stawick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2011-7943 Filed 4-1-11; 8:45 am]
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