2013-31106
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 250 (Monday, December 30, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79408-79410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31106]
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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Notice of Intent To
Renew Collection: Procedural Requirements for Requests for
Interpretative, No-Action, and Exemptive Letters
AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) seeks public
comment on the proposed renewal of a collection of information by the
agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Federal agencies are
required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each
proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension
of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for
public comment in response to the notice. This notice solicits comments
on requirements relating to requests for and issuance of exemptive, no-
action, and interpretative letters.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before February 28, 2014.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``Collection 3038-
0049-Renewal,'' by any of the following methods:
The Agency's Web site, at http://comments.cftc.gov/.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Web site.
Mail: Melissa D. Jurgens, Secretary of the Commission,
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st
Street NW., Washington, DC 20581.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as mail, above.
Please submit your comments using only one method. All comments
must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English
translation. Comments will be posted as received to www.cftc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher W. Cummings, Special
Counsel, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, (202) 418-
5228, email: [email protected]; Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel,
Division of Clearing and Risk, (202) 418-5926, email:
[email protected]; Riva Spear Adriance, Senior Special Counsel,
Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418-5494, email:
[email protected]; or Beverly E. Loew, Assistant General Counsel,
Office of General Counsel, (202) 418-5648, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, Federal agencies must obtain
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for each
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of
Information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3. The
definition includes agency requests or requirements that members of the
public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third
party. 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. Sections 3506(c)(2)(A) and 3507(h) of the
PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A) and 3507(h), require a Federal agency to
provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register whenever it seeks to
renew a collection of information previously
[[Page 79409]]
approved by OMB, seeking public comment before submitting the
collection to OMB for renewal. To comply with this requirement, the
CFTC is publishing notice of the proposed collection of information
listed below.
Abstract: This collection covers the procedural requirements for
requests for, and issuance of, interpretative, no-action, and exemptive
letters according to the provisions of section 140.99 of the
Commission's regulations.\1\ The current collection, for which a three-
year extension is being sought, has been assigned OMB control number
3038-0049. The collection requirements contained herein are voluntary.
The requirements are observed by parties that wish to apply most
frequently for a benefit from agency staff in the form of regulatory
relief described in section 140.99. Relief sought often relieves the
persons obtaining it from some or all of the burdens associated with
other collections of information.
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\1\ 17 CFR 140.99. An archive containing CFTC staff letters may
be found at http://www.cftc.gov/LawRegulation/CFTCStaffLetters/index.htm.
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Burden Statement: There has been an increase in requests for no-
action and interpretive letters in particular, following the
implementation of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(``Dodd-Frank Act'') by the Commission. Accordingly, as elaborated
below, the burden hours for this collection are being increased from
the last renewal of this collection.
The burden increase is related to several factors. First, there
have been an increased number of respondents for this collection in the
form of requestors that must comply with the collection requirements
contained in section 140.99 in order for the request to be considered
by staff.
Second, burden increase is attributable to collection requirements
contained within issued exemptive and no-action letters providing
regulatory relief. Historically, most exemptive, no-action, and
interpretive letters were sought by and issued to an individual party
(or fewer than ten persons) that may have been subject to discrete
collections of information in a letter in order to obtain the benefit
of it, which collections were excepted from the application of the PRA.
Since the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, however, these letters
more frequently have been sought by and issued to large groups of
similarly situated persons, typically to entire industries or industry
subgroups. Because of the increase in respondents, the PRA exception is
not applicable to this proposed renewal.
Thus, the proposed renewal accounts for relief issued by staff
under regulation 140.99 that contain information collections, which
often involves providing notice and certifications to the division or
office staff issuing the letter. The proposed renewal also accounts for
relief from compliance with an existing collection of information, and
occasionally from a regulatory obligation that does not contain a
collection of information, with substituted compliance obligations in
the form of an information collection in the letter providing the
relief.
Third, there has been an increase in burden attributable to adding
collection requirements into this collection that are related to this
collection, such as compliance with requirements for requesting
confidential treatment of letters that may be granted under section
140.98 of the Commission's regulations, but could be effected through
separate collections. It was determined not to establish separate
collections for the related matters in order to streamline the
analysis, compliance, and renewal processes for the Commission and all
entities that may submit requests for exemptive, no-action, and
interpretive letters that include burden associated with the related
matters.
Therefore, in order to establish estimates with respect to no-
action and exemptive letters that may be issued during the 3-year
renewal period for which the Commission is applying, a sampling was
taken of exemptive and no-action letters over a six month period from
December 4, 2012, through June 4, 2013. This time period was chosen
because it is believed that it reasonably represents the shift in the
manner in which these letters are sought and issued since the last
renewal of this collection of information.
During this period, encompassing no-action letters 12-40 through
13-22, 58 no-action letters were issued. Thirty contained no
collections of information, or collections that do not require an OMB
control number, for example because they involved the submission of
information by fewer than 10 persons,\2\ or they involved notice
filings solely requiring a respondent to identify itself as relying on
the relief, which notice is not considered to be an information
collection under the PRA.\3\ Twenty-eight contained collections of
information, a number of which require certification requirements that
will permit monitoring for compliance with statutory or regulatory
requirements not subject to the relief issued.\4\
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\2\ See, e.g., 44 U.S.C. 3502(3)(A)(1).
\3\ See, e.g., 5 CFR 1320.3(h)(1).
\4\ Id.
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Other contained substituted compliance obligations in the form of
collections that were intended to be no more burdensome than the
collection requirements provided for in the regulations, from which the
no-action letters provided relief. Of the few letters that contained
conditions allowing for substituted compliance that included a
collection of information but relieved regulatory burden not associated
with a collection of information, the increased collection burden was
offset by the overall decrease in collection burden resulting from
other letters issued pursuant to section 140.99. Nonetheless, to ensure
flexibility over the next three years, burden hours were estimated to
cover circumstances in which a collection contained in a no-action or
exemptive letter may add to, rather than offset or decrease, regulatory
burdens containing collections of information.
Finally, although there has been an increase in requests for no-
action relief and interpretive letters, Commission staff does not
anticipate that this increase will be permanent. Thus, burden estimates
have been bifurcated. Burden hours have been estimated at an increased
level for the first year following the renewal of this collection, and
then pared for the second and third years, so as not to artificially
inflate the Commission's burden budget, or the burden budget that is
maintained government-wide by OMB.
Past experience was used to estimate the number of no-action,
interpretive, and exemptive letters that may be received over the
three-years for which this renewal is being sought. The number of
letters received over the past five years are as follows:
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No- Inter- Exemp-
Letters Issued action pretive tive
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2013......................................... 64 0 0
2012......................................... 70 1 11
2011......................................... 8 0 1
2010......................................... 9 23 4
2009......................................... 11 35 3
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Burden Estimates. For the proposed renewal period, the respondent
burden calculated with consideration to past experience is estimated to
be 28,478 hours. These estimates include burden hours for complying
with the information requirements for exemptive, no-action, and
interpretative letters contained in section 140.99(c) of the
Commission's regulations, effecting filing as provided in section
140.99(d), providing notice of material change in
[[Page 79410]]
circumstances that may affect any relief granted pursuant to section
140.99(e), and complying with notice and other conditions that may be
contained in grant of exemptive or no-action relief issued by staff;
and preparing and submitting withdrawals of requests for exemptive, no-
action, and interpretative letters pursuant to section 140.99(f). The
estimates also include burden hours for preparing a confidential
treatment request pursuant to and responding to any process contained
in associated section 140.98(b) of the Commission's regulations, and
complying with the documentation requirements contained in section
41.3(b), related to exemption requests from certain intermediaries.
Respondents/Affected Entities: Registered entities, intermediaries,
eligible contract participants, parties clarifying their status as such
or seeking relief from registration or discrete regulatory burdens
associated with their status.
Estimated number of respondents: 12,428.
Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 28,478 hours.
Frequency of collection: Occasionally.
The Commission estimates the burden of this collection of
information as follows:
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Estimated Reports or Estimated
annual records Total annual average number Estimated
respondents or annually--each responses of hours per annual burden
recordkeepers respondent response hours
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REPORTING--RENEWAL YEAR ONE:
Sec. 140.99(c)-- 40 1 40 9.00 360
information requirements
for letters................
Sec. 140.99(d)--filing 40 1 40 0.38 15
requirements...............
Sec. 140.99(e)--staff
response:
change of facts and 7 1 7 2.25 16
circumstances..........
notice and other 4,500 1 4,500 1.50 6,750
conditions.............
Sec. 140.99(f)--withdrawal 6 1 6 0.75 5
of requests................
Sec. 140.98(b)-- 5 1 5 1.80 9
confidential treatment
requests...................
Sec. 41.3(b)--securities 10 1 10 3.75 38
brokers and dealers
requesting exemptive
orders; documentation
requirement................
REPORTING--YEARS TWO AND THREE:
Sec. 140.99(c)-- 25 1 25 9.00 225
information requirements
for letters................
Sec. 140.99(d)--filing 25 1 25 0.38 9
requirements...............
Sec. 140.99(e)--staff
response:
change of facts and 4 1 4 2.25 9
circumstances..........
notice and other 1,500 1 1,500 1.50 2,250
conditions.............
Sec. 140.99(f)--withdrawal 3 0 0
of requests................
Sec. 140.98(b)-- 3 1 3 1.80 5
confidential treatment
requests...................
Sec. 41.3(b)--securities 10 1 10 3.75 38
brokers and dealers
requesting exemptive
orders; documentation
requirement................
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SUBTOTAL REPORTING.. 6,178 13 6,175 38 9,728
RECORDKEEPING--RENEWAL YEAR ONE:
Sec. 140.99(e)--staff
response:
notice and other 4,500 4 18,000 0.75 13,500
conditions.............
RECORDKEEPING--RENEWAL YEARS TWO
AND THREE:
Sec. 140.99(e)--staff
response:
notice and other 1,750 4 7,000 0.75 5,250
conditions.............
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SUBTOTAL 6,250 8 25,000 2 18,750
RECORDKEEPING......
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GRAND TOTAL......... 12,428 21 31,175 40 28,478
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There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs
associated with this collection.
This estimate is based on the number of requests for such letters
in the last three years. Although the burden varies with the type,
size, and complexity of the request submitted, such request may involve
analytical work and analysis, as well as the work of drafting the
request itself.
Comment Solicitation: With respect to this collection of
information, the CFTC invites comments on:
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;
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;
Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of
the information to be collected; and
Ways to minimize the burden of collection of 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 of responses.
Dated: December 23, 2013.
Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2013-31106 Filed 12-27-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P