[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 131 (Friday, July 9, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37049-37051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17391]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
15 CFR Part 801
[Docket No. 99061159-9159-01]
RIN 0691-AA35
International Services Surveys: BE-80, Benchmark Survey of
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.
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SUMMARY: This notice sets forth proposed rules to revise 15 CFR part
801.11 to present the reporting requirements for the BE-80, Benchmark
Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial
Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons.
The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and
other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and/or continuing
information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
BEA proposes to raise the exemption level for the 1999 survey to $3
million in covered sales or purchases transactions, from $1 million on
the previous (1994) survey. Raising the exemption level will reduce
respondent burden, particularly for small companies. BEA also proposes
to combine private placement services with underwriting services,
combine foreign exchange brokerage services with other brokerage
services, and create a separate category for electronic funds
transfers. Finally, BEA has restated the definition of ``financial
services provider'' using the nomenclature of the new North American
Industry Classification System that has replaced the U.S. Standard
Industrial Classification System.
The changes in the types of services to be reported separately
reflect BEA's experience in collecting data on financial services
transactions over the past 5 years. Data collected for both private
placement and foreign brokerage services have been very small and do
not justify the continuation of separate reporting. Electronic funds
transfer services, in contrast, appear to account for a large fraction
of both total receipts and total payments for ``other financial
services,'' in which electronic funds transfers were previously
included.
DATES: Comments on these proposed rules will receive consideration if
submitted in writing on or before September 7, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Mail comments to the Office of the Chief, International
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230, or hand deliver comments
to room M-100, 1441 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC 2005. Comments will
be available for public inspection in room 7005, 1441 L Street, N.W.,
between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. David Belli, Chief, International
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: These proposed rules amend 15 CFR part 801
to set forth revised reporting requirements for the BE-80, Benchmark
Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. The Bureau of Economic
Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, will conduct the survey
under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22
U.S.C. 3101-3108), and under section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and
Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4908). Section 4(a) of the Act
(22 U.S.C. 3103(a)) provides that ``The President shall, to the extent
he deems necessary and feasible * * * (1) conduct a regular data
collection program to secure current information--related to
international investment and trade in services * * *; and (5) publish
for the use of the general public and United States Government agencies
periodic, regular, and comprehensive statistical information collected
pursuant to this subsection * * *'' In Section 3 of Executive Order
11961, the President delegated authority granted under the Act as
concerns international trade in services to the Secretary of Commerce,
who has redelegated it to BEA.
The BE-80 survey is mandatory and is conducted once every 5 years
by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce,
under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22
U.S.C. 3101-3108) hereinafter ``the Act'', and under Section 5408 of
the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4908). The
proposed benchmark survey will be conducted for 1999. BEA will send the
survey to potential respondents in January of the year 2000; responses
will be due by March 31, 2000. The last benchmark survey was conducted
for 1994. The benchmark survey will obtain universe data on trade in
financial services, by type and by country, between U.S. financial
services providers and unaffiliated foreign persons. Data from the BE-
80 survey (and the follow-on annual survey, the BE-82) are needed to
monitor trade in financial services, analyze its impact on the U.S. and
foreign economies, compile and improve the U.S. economic accounts,
support U.S. commercial policy on financial services, conduct trade
promotion, improve the ability of U.S. businesses to identify and
evaluate market opportunities, and for other Government uses.
The major purposes of the survey are to monitor trade in financial
services, analyze its impact on the U.S. and foreign economies, compile
and improve the U.S. economic accounts, support U.S. commercial policy
on financial services, conduct trade promotion, and improve the ability
of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market opportunities.
As proposed, BEA will conduct the BE-80 survey once every 5 years.
The last survey was conducted for 1994. The survey is intended to cover
the universe of financial services transactions
[[Page 37050]]
between U.S. financial services providers and unaffiliated foreign
persons. Reporting is required from U.S. financial services providers
who have sales to or purchases from affiliated foreign persons in all
covered financial services combined in excess of $3 million during the
reporting year. Financial services providers meeting this criteria must
supply data on the amount of their sales or purchases for each covered
type of service, disaggregated by country. U.S. financial services
providers that have covered transactions of less than $3 million during
the reporting year are asked to provide voluntary estimates of their
total sales or purchases of each type of financial service.
The information from the benchmark survey is updated in
nonbenchmark years by an annual follow on survey, the BE-82. Currently,
the annual survey covers only those U.S. financial services providers
that have covered transaction in excess of $5 million during the
reporting year.
Executive Order 12612
These proposed rules do not contain policies with Federalism
implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism
assessment under E.O. 12612.
Executive Order 12866
These proposed rules have been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
These proposed rules contain a collection of information
requirement subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and have been
submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for review under the
PRA.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty
for failure to comply with, a collection-of-information subject to the
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection
displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget Control
Number.
The survey, as proposed, is expected to result in the filing of
reports, containing mandatory or voluntary data, from about 500
respondents. The average burden for completing the BE-80--both the
mandatory and voluntary sections--is estimated to be 7 hours. Thus, the
total respondent burden of the survey is estimated at 3,500 hours (500
respondents times 7 hours average burden). The actual burden will vary
from reporter to reporter, depending upon the number and variety of
their financial services transactions and the ease of assembling the
data. Thus, it may range from 4 hours for a reporter that has a small
number and variety of transactions and easily accessible data, or that
reports only in the voluntary section of the form, to 150 hours for a
very large reporter that engages in a large number and variety of
financial services transactions and has difficulty in locating and
assembling the required data. This estimate includes time for reviewing
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information.
Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the burden estimate; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of
information on the respondents, including the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments should be addressed to: Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BE-1), U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230, and to the
Office of Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction Project
0608-0062, Washington, DC 20503 (Attention PRA Desk Officer for BEA).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business
Administration, under provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5
U.S.C. 605(b)), that this proposed rulemaking, if adopted, will not
have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The information collection excludes most small businesses
from mandatory reporting. Companies that engage in international
financial services transactions tend to be quite large. In addition,
the reporting threshold for this survey is set at a level that will
exempt most small businesses from reporting. The BE-80 benchmark survey
will be required only from U.S. persons with sales to, or purchases
from, unaffiliated foreign persons in excess of $3,000,000 during the
reporting year, in all covered financial services transactions
combined; the exemption level for the previous benchmark survey,
covering 1994, was $1,000,000. Thus, the exemption level will exclude
most small businesses form mandatory coverage. Of those small
businesses that must report, most will tend to have specialized
operations and activities, so they will likely report only one type of
transaction; therefore, the burden on them should be small.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806
Balance of Payments, Economic statistics, Foreign trade, Penalties,
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA proposes to amend 15
CFR Part 801, as follows:
PART 801--SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN U.S.
AND FOREIGN PERSONS
1. The authority citation for 15 CFR Part 801 continues to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301, 15 U.S.C. 4908, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108;
E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86 as amended by E.O. 12013, 3
CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 147, E.O. 12318, 3 CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 173, and
E.O. 12518, 3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348.
2. Section 801.11 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 801.11 Rules and regulations for the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons.
A BE-80, Benchmark Survey of financial Services Transactions
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign
Persons, will be conducted covering 1999 and every fifth year
thereafter. All legal authorities, provisions, definitions, and
requirements contained in Secs. 801.1 through 801.9 are applicable to
this survey. Additional rules and regulations for the BE-80 survey are
given in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section. More detailed
instructions are given on the report forms and instructions.
(a) Who must report--(1) Mandatory reporting. Reports are required
from each U.S. person who is a financial services provider or
intermediary, or whose consolidated U.S. enterprise includes a
separately organized subsidiary, or part, that is a financial services
provider or intermediary, and who had transactions (either sales or
purchases) directly with unaffiliated foreign persons in all financial
services combined in excess of $3,000,000 during its fiscal year
covered by the survey. The $3,000,000 threshold
[[Page 37051]]
should be applied to financial services transactions with unaffiliated
foreign persons by all parts of the consolidated U.S. enterprise
combined that are financial services providers or intermediaries.
Because the $3,000,000 threshold applies separately to sales and
purchases, the mandatory reporting requirement may apply only to sales,
only to purchases, or to both.
(i) The determination of whether a U.S. financial services provider
or intermediary is subject to this mandatory reporting requirement may
be based on the judgement of knowledgeable persons in a company who can
identify reportable transactions on a recall basis, with a reasonable
degree of certainty, without conducting a detailed manual records
search.
(ii) Reporters who file pursuant to this mandatory reporting
requirement must provide data on total sales and/or purchases of each
of the covered types of financial services transactions and must
disaggregate the totals by country.
(2) Voluntary reporting. If during the fiscal year covered, sales
of purchases of financial services by a firm that is a financial
services provider or intermediary, or by a firm's subsidiaries, or
parts, combined that are financial services providers or
intermediaries, are $3,000,000 or less, the U.S. person is requested to
provide an estimate of the total for each type of service. Provision of
this information is voluntary. Because the $3,000,000 threshold applies
separately to sales and purchases, this voluntary reporting option may
apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
(b) BE-80 definition of financial services provider. Except for
Monetary Authorities (i.e., Central Banks), the definition of financial
services provider used for this survey is identical in coverage to
Sector 52--Finance and Insurance--of the North American Industry
Classification System, United States, 1997. For example, companies and/
or subsidiaries and other separable parts of companies in the following
industries are defined as financial services providers: Depository
credit intermediation and related activities (including commercial
banking, holding companies, savings institutions, check cashing, and
debit card issuing); nondepository credit intermediation (including
credit card issuing, sales financing, and consumer lending);
securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and
related activities (including security and commodity futures brokers,
dealers, exchanges, traders, underwriters, investment bankers, and
providers of securities custody services); insurance carriers and
related activities (including agents, brokers, and services providers);
investment advisors and managers and funds, trusts, and other financial
vehicles (including mutual funds, pension funds, real estate investment
trusts, investors, stock quotation services, etc.).
(c) Covered types of services. The BE-80 survey covers the
following types of financial services transactions (purchases and/or
sales) between U.S. financial services providers and unaffiliated
foreign persons: Brokerage, including foreign exchange brokerage
services; underwriting and private placement services; financial
management services; credit-related services, except credit card
services; credit card services; financial advisory and custody
services; securities lending services; electronic funds transfer
services; and other financial services,
(d) What to file. (1) The BE-80 survey consists of Forms BE-80(A)
and BE-80(B). Before completing a form BE-80(B), a consolidated U.S.
enterprise (including the top U.S. parent and all of its subsidiaries
and parts combined) must complete Form BE-80(A) to determine its
reporting status. If the enterprise is subject to the mandatory
reporting requirement, or if it is exempt from the mandatory reporting
requirement but chooses to report data voluntarily, it should either
(i) File a separate Form BE-80(B) for each separately organized
financial services subsidiary or part of a consolidated U.S.
enterprise; or
(ii) File a single BE-80(B) representing the sum of all covered
transactions by all financial services subsidiaries or parts of the
enterprise combined.
(2) Reporters who receive the BE-80 survey from BEA but are not
subject to the mandatory reporting requirements and choose not to
report data voluntarily must complete and return to BEA the Exemption
Claim.
[FR Doc. 99-17391 Filed 7-8-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-M