2023-13527
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 121 (Monday, June 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41389-41390]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13527]
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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 Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), of 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, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be submitted within 30 days of this
notice's publication to OIRA, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Please find this particular information collection by
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments''
or by using the website's search function. Comments can be entered
electronically by clicking on the ``comment'' button next to the
information collection on the ``OIRA Information Collections Under
Review'' page, or the ``View ICR--Agency Submission'' page. A copy of
the supporting statement for the collection of information discussed
herein may be obtained by visiting https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
In addition to the submission of comments to https://Reginfo.gov as
indicated above, a copy of all comments submitted to OIRA may also be
submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the
``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') by clicking on the ``Submit Comment'' box
next to the descriptive entry for OMB Control No. 3038-0090, at https://comments.cftc.gov/FederalRegister/PublicInfo.aspx.
Or by either of the following methods:
Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, 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.
All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied
by an English translation. Comments submitted to the Commission should
include 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, 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 the
Administrative Procedure Act and other applicable laws, and may be
accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.
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\1\ 17 CFR 145.9.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lee McFarland, Attorney Advisor,
Market Participants Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
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(202) 418-5368, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Adaptation of Regulations to Incorporate Swaps--Records of
Transactions; Exclusion of Utility Operations Related Swaps with
Utility Special Entities from De minimis Threshold for Swaps with
Special Entities (OMB Control No. 3038-0090). This is a request for
extension of a currently approved information collection.
Abstract: Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act, Pub. L. 111-203, 124 Stat.
1376 (2010)) amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to establish a
comprehensive new statutory framework for swaps. These amendments
required the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``the Commission'')
to amend several of its regulations to implement the new framework. The
information collection obligations imposed by the ``Adaptation of
Regulations to Incorporate Swaps'' final regulations \2\ remain
necessary to implement section 721 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which amended
the definitions of futures commission merchant (``FCM'') and
introducing broker (``IB'') to permit these intermediaries to trade
swaps on behalf of customers. They also are necessary to implement
section 733 of the Dodd-Frank Act which introduced swap execution
facilities (``SEFs'') as a new trading platform for swaps. As a result
of the enactment of sections 721 and 733, the Commission needed to
amend certain recordkeeping regulations (Sec. Sec. 1.31, 1.33, 1.35,
1.37, and 1.39) so that records of swap transactions are maintained
analogously to how futures transactions are maintained.
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\2\ Adaptation of Regulations to Incorporate Swaps, 77 FR 66288
(Nov. 2, 2012).
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Further, the ``Exclusion of Utility Operations-Related Swaps With
Utility Special Entities from De Minimis Threshold for Swaps With
Special Entities'' \3\ regulation amended the Commission's swap dealer
definition to permit a person to exclude ``utility operations-related
swaps'' with ``utility special entities'' in their de minimis threshold
calculations. The regulation requires a person claiming the exclusion
to maintain, in accordance with Commission regulation 1.31, any written
representations that the person receives from utility special entities
related to this exclusion.
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\3\ Exclusion of Utility Operations-Related Swaps with Utility
Special Entities from De Minimis Threshold for Swaps with Special
Entities, 79 FR 57767 (Sept. 26, 2014).
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The information collection burdens associated with these
regulations (collectively, the ``Swap Recordkeeping Requirements'') are
restricted to the costs associated with the recordkeeping and reporting
requirements that these regulations impose upon affected registrants,
registered entities, those registered entities' members, and other
respondents covered by the final rules.
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 14, 2023, the Commission
published in the Federal Register notice of the proposed
[[Page 41390]]
extension of this information collection and provided 60 days for
public comment on the proposed extension, 88 FR 23011. The Commission
received two comments. Commenter Bill Gilbert expressed support for
transparent reporting of swaps and data in the financial industry, and
urges the Commission to continue to take steps to ensure data access
for retail investors.\4\ Commenter Michael Gilbert submitted a similar
comment also supporting enhanced swap data reporting for the benefit of
retail investors.\5\ The Commission prioritizes improved access to
swaps data for retail investors, and considers a renewal of this
collection to be consistent with that priority.
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\4\ Comment of Bill Gilbert, received April 16, 2023.
\5\ Comment of Michael Gilbert, received April 16, 2023.
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Burden Statement: The Commission is revising its estimate of the
burden for this collection for futures commission merchants, retail
foreign exchange dealers, introducing brokers, and members of
designated contract markets and swap execution facilities. The
respondent burden for this collection is estimated to be as follows:
\6\
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\6\ These estimates represent the aggregate burden for all data
associated with the Swap Recordkeeping Requirements in the
collection, namely Swap Recordkeeping (Regulation 1.35), Swap
Confirmations (Regulation 1.33), and Utility Special Entities
(Regulation 1.3). Please refer to the supporting statement for
further explanation of burdens associated with each regulatory
requirement.
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Estimated Number of Respondents: 13,598.\7\
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\7\ This number is derived from combining the estimated number
of FCMs (60), IBs (974), RFEDs (4), DCM members (11,500), and SEF
members (1,000) as of March 31, 2020. The Commission acknowledges
that some entities may be double-counted in this estimate. For
example, an FCM may be a member of a SEF.
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Estimated Annual Burden Hours per Respondent: 148.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,018,728.
Frequency of Collection: As needed.
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, 2023.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023-13527 Filed 6-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P