2019-13614
Federal Register, Volume 84 Issue 123 (Wednesday, June 26, 2019)
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 123 (Wednesday, June 26, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30094-30096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13614]
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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 July 26, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the burden estimate 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 this notice's
publication by either of the following methods. Please identify the
comments by ``OMB Control No. 3038-0024.''
By email addressed to: [email protected]; or
[[Page 30095]]
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 (the Commission) by one of the
following methods. The copies should refer to ``OMB Control No. 3038-
0024.''
Through the Commission's website at https://comments.cftc.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting
comments through the website;
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 same address as specified
for mail.
Please submit your comments to the Commission using only one
method. A copy of the supporting statement for the collection of
information discussed herein may be obtained by visiting http://RegInfo.gov.
All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied
by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to
https://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.\1\ 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 https://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 applicable laws, and may be
accessible under the FOIA.
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\1\ 17 CFR 145.9.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Beale, Associate Director,
Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity Futures
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Trading Commission, (202) 418-5446; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Regulations and Forms Pertaining to the Financial Integrity
of the Marketplace (OMB Control No. 3038-0024). This is a request for
extension of a currently approved information collection.
Abstract: The Commission is the independent federal regulatory
agency charged with providing various forms of customer protection so
that users of the commodity markets can be assured of the financial
integrity of the markets and the intermediaries that they employ in
their trading activities. Part 1 of the Commission's regulations
requires, among other things, that commodity brokers--known as futures
commission merchants (FCM) or introducing brokers (IB) comply with
minimum capital and segregation requirements. In order to monitor
compliance with these financial standards, the Commission has required
FCMs and IBs to file financial reports with the Commission and with the
designated self-regulatory organization (DSRO) of which they are
members as well as to report to the Commission should capital levels
drop below prescribed minimums.
In 2008, the U.S. Congress passed the Food, Conservation, and
Energy Act of 2008, Public Law 110-246, 122 Stat. 1651, 2189-2204
(2008), also known as the Farm Bill. The Farm Bill provided the
Commission with new authority with regard to the regulation of off-
exchange retail forex transactions. Among other things, it directed the
Commission to draft rules effectuating registration provisions for a
new category of registrant--the retail foreign exchange dealer, or
RFED. Under the terms of the legislation, RFEDs are subject to the same
capital requirements as FCMs that are engaged in retail forex
transactions, and, therefore, subject to the same reporting
requirements. Accordingly, this collection was amended to reflect the
financial reporting requirements of the new category of registrant,
RFEDs.
In 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (the ``Dodd-Frank Act''), Public Law 111-203,
124 Stat. 1376 (2010), giving the Commission the authority to regulate
certain swap markets and participants in those markets. Section 731 of
the Dodd-Frank Act, amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), 7 U.S.C.
1 et seq., to add, as section 4s(e) thereof, provisions concerning the
setting of initial and variation margin requirements for swap dealers
(SD) and major swap participants (MSP). In 2016, the Commission
finalized the Margin Requirements for Uncleared Swaps for Swap Dealers
and Major Swap Participants rule to implement those requirements.
Specifically, Regulation 23.154(b) require SDs and MSPs that do not
have a prudential regulator (CSE) that are using a model to compute
initial margin requirements to submit the model for review and approval
by the Commission or a registered futures association. CSEs must also
notify the Commission upon making certain changes to the model. The
information required for the prior written approval of the margin model
or for certain changes to such model, is needed to demonstrate that the
model satisfies all of the requirements of Regulation 23.154(b).
Finally, in 2013, the Commission finalized rules in an effort to
prevent unauthorized usage of customer funds by FCMs and RFEDs. The
final rules include modifications to the reporting requirements
required by the Commission which resulted in changes to the financial
statements filed by FCMs and RFEDs and made some of the recordkeeping
requirements already contained in this OMB Collection Number 3038-0024
into reporting requirements. These rules added additional recordkeeping
requirements by FCMs to assure the segregation of customer funds. This
collection, OMB Control No. 3038-0024, is needed for the Commission to
continue its financial monitoring of its registrants. The burden hours
are being revised to reflect the current number of registrants and
updated to reflect more accurate numbers regarding the number of
financial reports filed, based on current historical data.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number. On April 9, 2019, the Commission
published in the Federal Register notice of the proposed extension of
this information collection and provided 60 days for public comment on
the proposed extension, 84 FR 14099 (``60-Day Notice''). The Commission
did not receive any comments on the 60-Day Notice.
Burden Statement: The Commission is revising its estimate of the
burden for this collection for approximately 66 FCMs and RFEDs, 50 CSEs
and 1,178 IBs. The respondent burden for this collection is estimated
to be as follows:
Respondents/Affected Entities: FCMs, RFEDs, IBs, SDs, and MSPs that
do not have a Prudential Regulator.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,294.
Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 62.
[[Page 30096]]
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 80,837.
Frequency of Collection: Various. For example, FCMs have both daily
and monthly financial reporting obligations, annual certified financial
and compliance report obligations, and periodic notice requirements.
There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs
associated with this collection.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
Dated: June 21, 2019.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-13614 Filed 6-25-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P