[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 77282-77285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31341]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 000609170-0336-02]
RIN 0691-AA38


International Services Surveys: BE-82, Annual Survey of Financial 
Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

[[Page 77283]]


ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: These final rules revise regulations for the BE-82, Annual 
Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial 
Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons.
    The BE-82 survey is mandatory and is conducted annually, in which 
years the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons is not conducted, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), 
U.S. Department of Commerce, under the International Investment and 
Trade in Services Survey Act, and under the Omnibus Trade and 
Competitiveness Act of 1988. The annual survey will obtain data used to 
update the universe data, collected the BE-80 benchmark survey, on 
trade in financial services, by type and by country, between U.S. 
financial services providers and unaffiliated foreign persons. Data 
from the BE-82 survey (and the benchmark survey, the BE-80) 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 revised rules raise the exemption level for the 2000 survey to 
$10 million in covered sales or purchases transactions, from $5 million 
on the previous (1998) survey. Raising the exemption level will reduce 
respondent burden, particularly for small companies. The revised rules 
also 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. The changes on the types of services to be reported 
separately mirror changes introduced in the 1999 BE-80 benchmark 
survey. Finally, the revised rules restate 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 6 years. Data collected for both private 
placement and foreign exchange 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.

EFFECTIVE DATE: These final rules will be effective January 10, 2001.

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: In the September 21, 2000, Federal Register, 
volume 65, No. 184, 65 FR 57119-57121, BEA published a notice of 
proposed rulemaking setting forth revised reporting requirements for 
the BE-82, Annual Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between 
U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. No 
comments on the proposed rules were received. Thus, these final rules 
are the same as the proposed rules.
    These final rules amend 15 CFR part 801 to set forth revised 
reporting requirements for the BE-82, Annual 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), hereinafter ``the Act'', 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, conduct a regular data 
collection program to secure current information related to 
international investment and trade in services, and 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 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.
    BEA will conduct the BE-82 survey in years in which a BE-80 
benchmark survey, or census, is not conducted. The survey will update 
the data provided on the universe of financial services transactions 
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 unaffiliated foreign persons in all 
covered financial services combined in excess of $10 million during the 
reporting year. Financial services providers meeting these 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 $10 
million during the reporting year are asked to provide voluntary 
estimates of their total sales or purchases of each type of financial 
service.

Executive Order 12866

    These final rules are not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    These final rules do not contain policies with Federalism 
implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism 
assessment under E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection of information required in these final rules has 
been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under the 
Paperwork Reduction Act. 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 OMB Control Number; 
such a Control Number (0608-0063) has been displayed.
    The survey is expected to result in the filing of reports, 
containing mandatory or voluntary data, from about 375 respondents. The 
average burden for completing the BE-82--both the mandatory and 
voluntary sections--is estimated to be 7 hours. Thus, the total 
respondent burden of the survey is estimated at 2,600 hours (375 
respondents times 7 hours average burden). The actual burden will vary 
from reporter to reporter, depending

[[Page 77284]]

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 regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this 
collection of information 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 0608-0063, 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 these final rules 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-82 annual survey will be required 
only from U.S. persons with sales to, or purchases from, unaffiliated 
foreign persons in excess of $10 million during the reporting year, in 
all covered financial services transactions combined; the exemption 
level for the previous annual survey, covering 1998, was $5 million. 
Thus, the exemption level will exclude most small businesses from 
mandatory coverage. Of those smaller 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.

    Dated: November 27, 2000.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA amends 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 801.9 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(7) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 801.9  Reports required.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (7) BE-82, Annual Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between 
U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons:
    (i) A BE-82, Annual Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons, will be conducted covering companies' 1995 fiscal year and 
every year thereafter except when a BE-80 Benchmark Survey of Financial 
Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and 
Unaffiliated Foreign Persons, is conducted (see Sec. 801.11). All legal 
authorities, provisions, definitions, and requirements contained in 
Sec. 801.1 through Sec. 801.8 are applicable to this survey. Additional 
rules and regulations for the BE-82 survey are given in paragraphs 
(b)(7)(i)(A) through (D) of this section. More detailed instructions 
are given on the report from itself.
    (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 $10 million during its fiscal year 
covered by the survey. The $10 million threshold 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 $10 million 
threshold applies separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory 
reporting requirement may apply only to sales, to purchases, or to both 
sales and purchases.
    (i) The determination of whether a U.S. financial services provider 
or intermediary is subject to this mandatory reporting requirement may 
be judgmental, that is, 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 
or 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 
$10,000,000 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 $10,000,000 threshold applies 
separately to sales and purchases, this voluntary reporting option may 
apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both sales or purchases.
    (B) BE-82 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

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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-82 survey covers the same 
types of financial services transactions that are covered by the BE-80 
benchmark survey, as listed in Sec. 801.11(c).
    (D) What to file. (1) the BE-82 survey consists of Forms BE-82 (A) 
and BE-82(B). Before completing a form BE-82 (B), a consolidated U.S. 
enterprise (including the top parent and all of its subsidiaries and 
parts combined) must complete Form BE-82 (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, either a separate 
Form BE-82(B) for each separately organized financial services 
subsidiary or part of a consolidated U.S. enterprise, or a single BE-
82(B) representing the sum of all covered transactions by all financial 
services subsidiaries or parts of the enterprise combined must be 
completed.
    (2) Reporters who receive the BE-82 survey from BEA, but that are 
not reporting data in either the mandatory or voluntary section of any 
BE-82(B), must return the Exemption Claim, attached to Form BE-82 (A), 
to BEA.
    (ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 00-31341 Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-M