2016-19127

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 155 (Thursday, August 11, 2016)]

[Notices]

[Pages 53125-53127]

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

[FR Doc No: 2016-19127]

=======================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 September 12, 2016.

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 email at [email protected]. Please identify

the comments by OMB Control No. 3038-NEW. Please provide the Commodity

Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or ``Commission'') with a copy of

all submitted comments at the address listed below. Please refer to OMB

Reference No. 3038-NEW, found on http://reginfo.gov. Comments may also

be mailed to the 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,

and to: Nisha Smalls, Office of Customer Education and Outreach,

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington,

DC 20581; or through the Agency's Web site at http://comments.cftc.gov.

Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Web site.

Comments may also be mailed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary

of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three

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

by hand delivery/courier to the same address.

A copy of the supporting statements for the collection of

information discussed above may be obtained by visiting reginfo.gov.

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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nisha Smalls, Office of Customer

Education and Outreach, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st

Street NW., Washington, DC 20581, (202) 418-5895; FAX: (202) 418-5541;

email: [email protected] and refer to this Federal Register notice. A

copy may also be obtained from this contact.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission's Office of Customer

Education and Outreach (OCEO) develops campaigns to change customer

behaviors, so that customers can better avoid fraud as defined under

the Commodity Exchange Act. The OCEO intends to survey the public by

[[Page 53126]]

identifying customers and determining if the CFTC's SmartCheck\SM\

campaign is helping them to identify, avoid, and report financial

fraud.

Title: CFTC SmartCheck Annual Campaign Impact Tracking Survey, (OMB

Control No. 3038-NEW). This is a request for approval of a new

collection.

Abstract: In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act \1\ expanded the Commission's

authority to, among other matters related to regulatory oversight,

establish funding of consumer education initiatives under its new

Whistleblower authority.\2\ Under this new authority, the Commission

established the OCEO to, among other efforts, survey the public

regarding consumer education initiatives.\3\ This notice announces a

public survey. This survey will include screening questions to identify

the correct respondents and questions to determine if the CFTC's

SmartCheck\SM\ campaign is helping customers identify, avoid, and

report financial fraud.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ 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/LawRegulation/DoddFrankAct/index.htm.

\2\ See 7 U.S.C. 26.

\3\ See 17 CFR 165.12.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The OCEO will use the information collected in the survey to refine

the methods used to inform the public about how to best detect and

report financial fraud. This will be done by creating a final summary

report that includes key findings from the survey.

Findings from the summary report will be used to directionally

inform the outreach efforts that the CFTC undertakes concerning helping

customers avoid financial fraud.

The survey will be administered using an online survey tool. The

online modality approach will allow presentation of test material to

participants in a more convenient and time-efficient manner than other

collection methods such as mall intercepts. The online method also

allows for a quicker turnaround for data collection. No other

collection methods will be used.

Burden Statement: The screening questions will take about 1 minute

to complete. It is anticipated that 4,000 people will be screened. The

survey will take about 15 minutes. The cost of the screener survey will

be approximately $3,125, which equates to $46.85 per burden hour. 2,000

people will take the 15 minute survey. The cost of the full survey will

be approximately $46,875, which equates to $93.75 per burden hour.

Based on these assumptions, the total burden hours will be 566.7 hours.

The Commission estimates the average burden of this collection of

information as follows:

Estimated Annual Reporting Burden Hours

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annual Frequency of Hours per

reporting reporting report Total

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

17 CFR 165.12................ 4,000 1 response per 1 minute per 4,000 66.7 hours

respondent. response. total burden.

17 CFR 165.12................ 2,000 1 response per 15 minutes per 2,000 500 hours total

respondent. response. burden.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The proposed survey questions appear below:

CFTC SmartCheck Annual Campaign Impact Tracking Survey

CFTC TARGET = Age 50-65; HH income 60k+; Answers 1 or 2 for question 1;

Invests in 2 or more products in question 2

Screener

1. When it comes to family and personal investments like stocks,

mutual funds, or other trading products, how likely are you to be

involved in making decisions for your household?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... Very likely.

2............................... Somewhat likely.

3............................... Not too likely.

4............................... Not at all likely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Below is a list of financial products. Please select all that

you currently are invested in or have invested in.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... Stocks or shares.

2............................... Precious metals like gold or silver.

3............................... Foreign currency trading (FOREX).

4............................... Any type of futures or options.

5............................... None of these [Single Punch (SP)].

6............................... Don't know [SP].

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Survey

[Grid, SP Across]

Please answer yes or no to each of the following questions.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes No

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

3....................... Have you read, seen, or heard anything about

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

(CFTC)?

4....................... Have you read, seen, or heard anything about

CFTC SmartCheck, a campaign that promotes

expert tools and resources to check the

background of financial professionals, learn

how to avoid investment fraud, and report

suspicious activity?

5....................... Have you read, seen, or heard anything about

SmartCheck.gov, a website that links to

databases which allow investors to check the

background of financial professionals?

6....................... Have you read, seen, or heard anything about

Investor.gov, a website that allows you to

check the background of investment adviser

representatives and firms?

7....................... Have you read, seen, or heard anything about

BrokerCheck.org, a website that allows you to

check the background of brokers who sell

stocks, bonds, mutual funds and other

securities?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Grid, SP Across. Randomize Grid Rows]

Below are a number of actions that you may or may not be likely to

complete. Please indicate how likely or unlikely you are to complete

the actions using the scale below. If you were considering investing

with someone you had not invested with before, how likely are you to:

[[Page 53127]]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not likely or

Very likely Somewhat likely unlikely Not too likely Not at all Likely

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 2 3 4 5

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

8............................... Review performance history.

9............................... Talk to references and/or past

clients.

10.............................. Confirm certifications and/or

education.

11.............................. Perform a general Internet search.

12.............................. Check disciplinary history with an

official financial regulator.

13.............................. Check licensing and/or registration

status with an official financial

regulator.

14.............................. Personally interview.

15.............................. Check job affiliations with an

official financial regulator.

16.............................. None of these/don't know [SP].

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SP]

17. Generally speaking, how concerned are you about unknowingly

being part of a fraudulent investment?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... Very concerned.

2............................... Somewhat concerned.

3............................... Not too concerned.

4............................... Not at all concerned.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SP]

18. If you suspected an investment you were aware of was

fraudulent, how likely would you be to report it to a government

financial agency such as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

(CFTC) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... Very likely.

2............................... Somewhat likely.

3............................... Not too likely.

4............................... Not at all likely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SP]

19. If you became aware that an investment you were already a part

of was fraudulent, how likely would you be to report it to a government

financial agency such as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

(CFTC) or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)?

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... Very likely.

2............................... Somewhat likely.

3............................... Not too likely.

4............................... Not at all likely.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[MP; Randomize Leaving Last 1 at the End]

20. Which, if any, of the following do you think are potential

signs of investment fraud? If the person selling the investment . . .

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1............................... said the investment has a guaranteed

rate of return.

2............................... said s/he has a special credential, so

they can be trusted.

3............................... said that many of your friends have

already invested in the opportunity.

4............................... was willing to charge you half of the

regular commission.

5............................... said the opportunity was closing soon,

so it was important to act quickly.

6............................... None of these [SP].

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Grid, SP Across. Randomize Grid Rows]

Below are a number of statements with which you may or may not

agree. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each

statement.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neither agree nor

Strongly disagree Somewhat disagree disagree Somewhat agree Strongly agree

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 2 3 4 5

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

21...................... It is important to know the common signs of

fraud when investing.

22...................... The government reviews and investigates all

alleged reports of investment fraud.

23...................... I know where to go to report suspected or

known incidents of investment fraud.

24...................... I know where to go to check the background of

a financial professional.

25...................... Before I invest, it is important to check the

registration and/or licensing status of a

financial professional.

26...................... Each year, it is important to check the

registration and/or licensing of a financial

professional with whom I invest.

27...................... Before I invest, it is important to check the

disciplinary history of a financial

professional.

28...................... Each year, it is important to check the

disciplinary history of a financial

professional.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Dated: August 8, 2016.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,

Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 2016-19127 Filed 8-10-16; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351-01-P

 

Last Updated: August 11, 2016