I support extension of the staff no-action relief in Letter No. 20-30 from certain reporting obligations under the Commission’s Ownership and Control Reports (“OCR”) final rules.  No-action relief is appropriate because various aspects of the OCR rules are unworkable or otherwise problematic in terms of implementation and compliance.  As I have previously said, “when one of our rules needs to be fixed because it is unworkable, ambiguous, or inefficient, corrective action by notice-and-comment rulemaking is the gold standard because it allows the Commission to hear from stakeholders and develop regulatory solutions that provide certainty.”[1]

Yet, it is troubling that this relief is another instance of successive extensions of staff no-action relief on issues that the Commission has failed to address permanently.  This is the 12^th time during my tenure as a Commissioner that I have commented on seemingly endless staff no-action relief or other band-aids and workarounds undertaken when the Commission avoids tackling difficult issues.[2] 

I appreciate that a rulemaking that could address these OCR issues on a permanent basis is included in the Commission’s “Agency Rule List” published in the Spring 2023 “Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.”[3]  But I note that the target date stated in that Agency Rule List for the issuance of a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the OCR rules is not until March 2024. 

This is the 7^th no-action letter that will be issued regarding the OCR rules since they were adopted a decade ago in 2013.  It is my understanding that there has been engagement between staff and stakeholders about these rules over the years, including written communications and a petition for rulemaking.  Under the circumstances, I urge staff and the Commission to develop and issue an OCR proposed rulemaking soon – so that staff is not compelled to issue yet another extension when this one expires a year from now.