2017-20025

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2017)

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2017)]

[Notices]

[Pages 43946-43947]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 2017-20025]

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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

(``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 October 20, 2017.

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, within 30 days of the notice's

publication, by either of the following methods. Please identify the

comments by OMB Control No. 3038-0079.

By email addressed to: [email protected]; or

By mail addressed to: Office of Information and Regulatory

Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 725 17th Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20503.

A copy of all comments submitted to OIRA should be sent to the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or ``Commission'') by

either of the following methods. The copies should refer to OMB Control

No. 3038-0079.

By submission through the Commission's Web site: http://comments.cftc.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting

comments through the Web site;

By mail addressed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary

of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three

Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581; or

By hand delivery/courier to: The address listed above for

submission by mail.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine Driscoll, Associate Chief

Counsel, (202) 418-5544, [email protected]; or Jacob Chachkin, Special

Counsel, 202-418-5496, [email protected], both in the CFTC Division of

[[Page 43947]]

Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight.

Supporting statements. A copy of the supporting statements for the

collection of information discussed herein may be obtained by visiting

http://RegInfo.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Conflicts of Interest Policies and Procedures by Swap

Dealers and Major Swap Participants (OMB Control No. 3038-0079). This

is a request for an amendment to a currently approved information

collection.

Abstract: In 2012, the Commission promulgated Business Conduct

Standards for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants with

Counterparties (``External Business Conduct Standards Final

Rulemaking'') \1\ which include all of Subpart H of Part 23 of the

Commission's regulations (``EBCS Rules'').\2\ In the External Business

Conduct Standards Final Rulemaking, the Commission stated that the

information collections associated with the EBCS Rules were part of the

overall supervision, compliance and recordkeeping requirements imposed

by the Commission in certain other rulemakings including, among others,

the collection of information for rules on Conflicts of Interest

Policies and Procedures by Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

under Sec. 23.605 under OMB Collection No. 3038-0079. While the

collections associated with the EBCS Rules do overlap with the

requirements in certain other Commission regulations, the OMB

collections associated with those other Commission regulations do not

accurately reflect the burdens imposed by the EBCS Rules. The

Commission is proposing to amend the information collection under OMB

Control No. 3038-0079 to clearly reflect the paperwork burden imposed

by the EBCS Rules under Sec. Sec. 23.401-450 and ensure that the

paperwork burden of the EBCS Rules is centrally located under OMB

Control No. 3038-0079. In addition, the Commission will be retitling

the collection under OMB Control No. 3038-0079 ``Swap Dealer and Major

Swap Participant Conflicts of Interest and Business Conduct Standards

with Counterparties'' to more accurately reflect its coverage. The

collections of information contained in the EBCS Rules are necessary to

implement requirements set forth in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform

and Consumer Protection Act \3\ and for the protection of investors and

market participants.

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\1\ Business Conduct Standards for Swap Dealers and Major Swap

Participants with Counterparties, 77 FR 9734, Feb. 17, 2012.

\2\ Subpart H of Part 23 is titled ``Business Conduct Standards

for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants Dealing with

Counterparties, Including Special Entities.'' Subpart H includes the

following provisions: Sec. 23.400 (Scope); Sec. 23.401

(Definitions); Sec. 23.402 (General Provisions); Sec. 23.410

(Prohibition on fraud, manipulation and other abusive practices);

Sec. 23.430 (Verification of counterparty eligibility); Sec.

23.431 (Disclosures of material information); Sec. 23.432 (Clearing

disclosures); Sec. 23.433 Communications--fair dealing); Sec.

23.434 (Recommendations to counterparties--institutional

suitability; Sec. 23.440 (Requirements for swap dealers acting as

advisors to Special Entities); Sec. 23.450 (Requirements for swap

dealers and major swap participants acting counterparties to Special

Entities); and Sec. 23.451 (Political contributions by certain swap

dealers).

\3\ See Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection

Act, Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010). The text of the

Dodd-Frank Act may be accessed at: http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@swaps/documents/file/hr4173_enrolledbill.pdf.

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On June 20, 2017, the Commission published in the Federal Register

a notice of the proposed extension of this information collection and

provided 60 days for public comment on the proposed extension. See 82

FR 28050 (June 20, 2017). The Commission received no relevant comments.

Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is

detailed below and includes the burden currently associated with OMB

Collection No. 3038-0079 in connection with Sec. 23.605 (Conflicts of

Interest Policies and Procedures for Swap Dealers and Major Swap

Participants) and the EBCS Rules. The Commission estimates the burden

of this collection of information as follows:

Respondents/Affected Entities: Swap Dealers and Major Swap

Participants.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 102.

Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 2,352.9 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 240,000 hours.

Frequency of Collection: Ongoing.

Comment instructions. All comments must be submitted in English or,

if not, accompanied by an English translation. Comments will be posted

as received to http://www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information

that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to

consider information that you believe is exempt from disclosure under

the Freedom of Information Act (``FOIA''), a petition for confidential

treatment of the exempt information may be submitted according to the

procedures established in Sec. 145.9 of the Commission's regulations,

17 CFR 145.9. The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no

obligation, to review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any

or all of your submission from http://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to

be inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All

submissions that have been redacted or removed that contain comments on

the merits of the ICR will be retained in the public comment file and

will be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure Act

and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the FOIA.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

Dated: September 15, 2017.

Robert N. Sidman,

Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 2017-20025 Filed 9-19-17; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351-01-P

 

Last Updated: September 20, 2017