[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 241 (Tuesday, December 16, 2003)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 69955-69957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30936]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 030815201-3306-02]
RIN 0691-AA50


International Services Surveys: BE-85, Quarterly Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends 15 CFR 801.9 to set forth the reporting 
requirements for the BE-85, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services 
Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated 
Foreign Persons.
    The BE-85 survey will be 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 Section 5408 of 
the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The first survey 
conducted under this rule will cover transactions in the first quarter 
of 2004. Data from the BE-85 survey 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 survey will cover the same financial services presently covered 
by the BE-82, Annual Survey of Financial Services Transactions Between 
U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons, 
which the BE-85 survey would replace, following a final annual data 
collection for 2003.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This final rule will be effective January 15, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Obie G. Whichard, Chief, International 
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; or via the Internet at 
[email protected] (Telephone (202) 606-9890).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the August 29, 2003, Federal Register, 
(68 FR 51939-51941), BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking 
setting forth reporting requirements for the BE-85, Quarterly Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. No comments on the proposed 
rule were received. Thus, the proposed rule is adopted without change.
    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, 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, as amended 
by Executive Order 12518, the President delegated authority granted 
under the Act as concerns international trade in services to the 
Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated that authority 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-85 survey on a quarterly basis beginning 
with the first quarter of 2004. BEA will send the survey to potential 
respondents in March of 2004. Responses will be due by May 15, 2004. 
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 whose sales of covered services to unaffiliated 
foreign persons exceeded $20 million for the previous fiscal year or 
that expect such sales to exceed that amount during the current fiscal 
year, or whose purchases of covered services from unaffiliated foreign 
persons exceeded $15 million for the previous fiscal year or that 
expect such purchases to exceed that amount during the current fiscal 
year. Financial services providers meeting any of 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 do not meet the mandatory reporting requirements are 
requested to provide voluntary estimates of their total sales or 
purchases of each type of financial service.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule is not significant for purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This final rule does not contain policies with Federalism 
implications as that term is defined in E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    The collection of information required in this final rule 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 
(0608-0065) will be displayed.
    The BE-85 survey is expected to result in the filing of reports 
containing mandatory data from about 55 respondents on a quarterly 
basis, or 220 responses annually. The average burden for completing the 
BE-85 is estimated to be 10 hours. Thus, the total respondent burden of 
the survey is estimated at 2,200 hours (220 responses times 10 hours 
average burden). The actual burden will vary from reporter to

[[Page 69956]]

reporter, depending upon the number and variety of their financial 
services transactions and the ease of assembling the data. Thus, for 
each quarter it may range from 4 hours for a reporter that has a small 
number and variety of transactions and easily accessible data to 100 
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; or faxed 
(202-395-7245) or e-mailed ([email protected]) to the Office of 
Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., (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 the proposed rule would not have a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. A summary of 
the factual basis for this cert was published in the proposed rule and 
is not repeated here. No comments were received on the economic impact 
of the rule. As a result, no final regulation flexibility analysis was 
prepared.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801

    Economic statistics, Foreign trade, International transactions, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: November 24, 2003.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

0
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

0
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.


0
2. Section 801.9 is amended by adding new paragraph (c)(4) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  801.9  Reports required.

* * * * *
    (c) Quarterly surveys. * * *
    (4) BE-85, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons:
    (i) A BE-85, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons, will be conducted covering the first quarter of the 2004 
calendar year and every quarter thereafter.
    (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 that had sales of covered services to 
unaffiliated foreign persons that exceeded $20 million for the previous 
fiscal year or expects sales to exceed that amount during the current 
fiscal year, or had purchases of covered services from unaffiliated 
foreign persons that exceeded $15 million for the previous fiscal year 
or expects purchases to exceed that amount during the current fiscal 
year. These thresholds 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 thresholds are applied 
separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory reporting requirement 
may apply only to sales, only 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 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 a financial services provider or 
intermediary, or all of a firm's subsidiaries or parts combined that 
are financial services providers or intermediaries, had covered sales 
of $20 million or less, or covered purchases of $15 million or less 
during the previous fiscal year, and if covered sales or purchases are 
not expected to exceed these amounts in the current fiscal year, a 
person is requested to provide an estimate of the total for each type 
of service for the most recent quarter. Provision of this information 
is voluntary. The estimates may be based on the reasoned judgement of 
the reporting entity. Because these thresholds apply separately to 
sales and purchases, voluntary reporting may apply only to sales, only 
to purchases, or to both.
    (B) BE-85 definition of financial services provider. 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, 2002. 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-85 survey covers the 
following types of financial services transactions (purchases and/or 
sales) between U.S. financial services providers and unaffiliated 
foreign persons: Brokerage

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services, 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; security lending services; 
electronic funds transfers; and other financial services.
    (ii) [Reserved]
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 03-30936 Filed 12-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P