2018-18742
Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44029-44031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18742]
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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
[[Page 44030]]
ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected
costs and burden.
DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 28, 2018.
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 the publication
of this notice, by either of the following methods. Please identify the
comments by ``OMB Control No 3038-0021.''
By email addressed to: [email protected] or
By mail addressed 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.
A copy of all comments submitted to OIRA should be sent to the
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) by any of the
following methods. The copies sent to the Commission also should refer
to ``OMB Control No. 3038-0021.''
By mail addressed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary
of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581;
By Hand Delivery/Courier to the same address; or
Through the Commission's website at http://comments.cftc.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting
comments through the website.
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
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, 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 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 Freedom of
Information Act.
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\1\ 17 CFR 145.9.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel,
Division of Clearing and Risk, Commodity Futures Trading Commission,
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(202) 418-5926; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Regulations Governing Bankruptcies of Commodity Brokers (OMB
Control No. 3038-0021). This is a request for an extension of a
currently approved information collection.\2\
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\2\ There are two information collections now associated with
OMB Control No. 3038-0021. The first includes the reporting,
recordkeeping, and third party disclosure requirements applicable to
a single respondent in a commodity broker liquidation (e.g., a
single commodity broker or a single trustee) within the relevant
time period that are provided for in Commission regulations
190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), 190.02(b)(1), 190.02(b)(2),190.02(b)(4),
190.02(c), 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2), 190.04(b) and 190.06(b). The
second information collection includes the third party disclosure
requirements provided for in Commission regulations 190.06(d) and
190.10(c) which are applicable on a regular basis to multiple
respondents (i.e., multiple futures commission merchants).
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Abstract: This collection of information involves the reporting,
recordkeeping, and third party disclosure requirements set forth in the
CFTC's bankruptcy regulations for commodity broker liquidations, 17 CFR
part 190.\3\ These regulations apply to commodity broker liquidations
under Chapter 7, Subchapter IV of the Bankruptcy Code.\4\
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\3\ These include the requirements contained in Commission
regulations 190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), 190.02(b)(1),
190.02(b)(2),190.02(b)(4), 190.02(c), 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2),
190.04(b), 190.06(b), 190.06(d), and 190.10(c).
\4\ 11 U.S.C. 761 et seq.
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The reporting requirements include, for example, notices to the
Commission regarding the filing of petitions for bankruptcy and notices
to the Commission regarding the intention to transfer open commodity
contracts in a commodity broker liquidation. The recordkeeping
requirements include, for example, the statements of customer accounts
that a trustee appointed for the purposes of a commodity broker
liquidation (Trustee) must generate and adjust as set forth in the
regulations. The third party disclosure requirements include, for
example, the disclosure statement that a commodity broker must provide
to its customers containing information regarding the manner in which
customer property is treated under Part 190 of the Commission's
regulations in the event of a bankruptcy and, in the event of a
commodity broker liquidation, certain notices that a Trustee must
provide to customers and to the persons to whom commodity contracts and
specifically identifiable customer property have been or will be
transferred. The information collection requirements are necessary, and
will be used, to facilitate the effective, efficient, and fair conduct
of liquidation proceedings for commodity brokers and to protect the
interests of customers in these proceedings both directly and by
facilitating the participation of the CFTC in such proceedings.
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 number. On June 25, 2018, 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, 83 FR 29547, June 25, 2018 (``60-Day Notice''). The
Commission did not receive any relevant comments. Accordingly, it did
not alter the burden estimates set forth in the 60-Day Notice in
response to comments received.\5\
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\5\ As noted below, the Commission reduced the burden hours
associated with the third party disclosures applicable to multiple
respondents because the required documents are standardized and
unchanged from the prior renewal. Accordingly, the time that the
average respondent would spend drafting and sending the notice and
disclosure is minimal. See infra fn.6.
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Burden Statement: The Commission notes that commodity broker
liquidations occur at unpredictable and irregular intervals when
particular commodity brokers become insolvent. While a commodity broker
liquidation has not occurred in the past three years, the Commission
took the conservative approach of maintaining the assumption contained
in the previous renewal of this information collection that, on
average, a commodity broker liquidation would occur every three years.
The Commission generally has retained the burden hour estimates set
forth in the previous information collection as there have been no
interim experiences that would warrant altering those estimates.\6\
[[Page 44031]]
The Commission further notes, however, that the information collection
burden will vary in particular commodity broker liquidations depending
on the size of the commodity broker, the extent to which accounts are
able to be quickly transferred, and other factors specific to the
circumstances of the liquidation.
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\6\ The Commission has retained the burden hour estimates for
the applicable regulations with two limited exceptions. First, the
Commission no longer assigns burden hours to the discretionary
notice that a Trustee may provide to customers in an involuntary
commodity broker liquidation pursuant to Commission regulation
190.02(b)(3). There have been no involuntary commodity broker
liquidations and none are anticipated. Accordingly, continuing to
assign burden hours to this voluntary requirement would
inappropriately inflate the burden hours of this information
collection. Second, the Commission has reduced the burden hours
assigned to the third party disclosure requirements that are
applicable to multiple respondents (as set forth in Commission
regulations 190.06(d) and 190.10(c)). The notice and disclosure
required by these regulations, respectively, are standardized and
unchanged from the prior renewal. Accordingly, the time that the
average respondent would spend drafting and sending the notice and
disclosure is minimal.
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The respondent burden for this information collection is estimated
to be as follows: \7\
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\7\ Because a commodity broker liquidation is estimated to occur
only once every three years, the previous information collection, in
many cases, expressed the burden of the reporting, recordkeeping,
and third party disclosure requirements in terms of the burden
applicable to ``.33'' respondents. For clarity, this notice
expresses such burdens in terms of those that would be imposed on
one respondent during the three year period. While the applicable
burden is expressed in a different way, as noted above, the burden
hours generally remain unchanged.
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Reporting: \8\
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\8\ The reporting requirements are contained in Commission
regulations 190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), and 190.06(b).
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Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.33.
Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 1.33.
Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 1.33.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1.33.
Type of Respondents: Commodity brokers, Trustees, and self-
regulatory organizations.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Recordkeeping: \9\
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\9\ The recordkeeping requirements are contained in Commission
regulations 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2), and 190.04(b).
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Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 26,666.67.
Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 26,666.67.
Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 333.33.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 333.33.
Type of Respondents: Trustees.
Frequency of Collection: Daily and on occasion.
Third Party Disclosures Applicable to a Single Respondent:
\10\
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\10\ These third party disclosure requirements are contained in
Commission regulations 190.02(b)(1), 190.02(b)(2), 190.02(b)(4), and
190.02(c).
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Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 6,671.32.
Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 6,671.32.
Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 1,034.63.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,034.63.
Type of Respondents: Trustees.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Third Party Disclosures Applicable to Multiple
Respondents: \11\
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\11\ See fn. 1. The Commission is setting forth a new
information collection under OMB Control No. 3038-0021 to separately
account for the third party disclosure requirements provided for in
Commission regulations 190.06(d) and 190.06(c) that are applicable
on a regular basis to multiple respondents (i.e., multiple futures
commission merchants).
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Estimated Number of Respondents: 125.
Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 2,000.
Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 250,000.
Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 40.
Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,500.
Type of Respondents: Futures commission merchants.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
There are no new capital or start-up or operations costs associated
with this information collection, nor are there any maintenance costs
associated with this information collection.
(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)
Dated: August 24, 2018.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-18742 Filed 8-28-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P