[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 118 (Tuesday, June 20, 2006)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 35388-35389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-9608]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 806

[Docket No. 060131020-6152-02]
RIN 0691-AA57


Direct Investment Surveys: BE-577, Direct Transactions of U.S. 
Reporter With Foreign Affiliate

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations of the Department of 
Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), for the quarterly BE-577, 
Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate.
    The BE-577 survey is conducted quarterly and is a sample survey 
that obtains data on transactions and positions between U.S.-owned 
foreign business enterprises and their U.S. parents. To address the 
current needs of data users while at the same time keeping the 
respondent burden as low as possible, BEA is modifying, adding, or 
deleting items on the survey form and in the reporting criteria. The 
changes will bring the BE-577 form and related instructions into 
conformity with the 2004 BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct 
Investment Abroad and will exclude data that have recently begun to be 
collected on other Government surveys.

DATES: This final rule will be effective July 20, 2006.

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; phone (202) 606-9890 or 
e-mail ([email protected]).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the March 1, 2006, Federal Register, 71 
FR 10454, BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking setting forth 
revised reporting requirements for the BE-577, Direct Transactions of 
U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate. No comments on the proposed rule 
were received. Thus, the proposed rule is adopted without change. This 
final rule amends 15 CFR 806.14 to set forth the reporting requirements 
for the BE-577, Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign 
Affiliate.

Description of Changes

    The BE-577, Direct Transactions Of U.S. Reporter With Foreign 
Affiliate, is a mandatory survey and is conducted quarterly by BEA 
under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 
U.S.C. 3101-3108). BEA will send BE-577 survey forms to potential 
respondents each quarter; responses will be due within 30 days after 
the close of each fiscal quarter, except for the final quarter of the 
fiscal year, when reports will be due within 45 days.
    The final rule increases the exemption level for reporting on the 
BE-577 from $30 million to $40 million. The exemption level is stated 
in terms of the foreign affiliate's assets, sales, and net income.
    In addition to the change in the reporting criteria mentioned 
above, BEA is introducing a few changes to the survey form and 
instructions. BEA is: (1) Revising the survey form and instructions to 
bring them into conformity with the most recent BE-10 benchmark survey 
instructions for reporting capital gains and losses; (2) collecting 
information on payments to and receipts from foreign affiliates for 
interest, royalties and license fees and other private services gross 
of any taxes withheld to align reporting of these items with current 
international statistical standards for balance of payments accounts 
(previously, this information was collected net of taxes withheld); (3) 
modifying the survey instructions to indicate that positions and 
transactions in financial derivatives contracts that are reported on or 
derived from the Treasury Department's recently instituted 
International Capital Form D, Report of Holdings of, and Transactions 
in, Financial Derivatives Contracts with Foreign Residents should be 
excluded from BE-577 reports; and (4) removing the requirement for 
reporting certain affiliated insurance transactions that have been 
problematic to collect on the BE-577. BEA plans to move the reporting 
requirement for these transactions to specialized services surveys that 
BEA conducts in the near future.

Survey Background

    BEA will conduct the survey under the International Investment and 
Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108), hereinafter, ``the 
Act.'' Title 22 United States Code, Section 3103(a)(1) of the Act 
requires that with respect to United States direct investment abroad, 
the President shall conduct a data collection program to obtain current 
information on international capital flows and other information 
related to international investment and trade in services including 
information that may be necessary for computing and analyzing the 
United States balance of payments, the employment and taxes of United 
States parents and affiliates, and the international investment and 
trade in services position of the United States.
    In Section 3 of Executive Order 11961, the President delegated 
authority granted under the Act as concerns direct investment to the 
Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated it to BEA. The quarterly 
survey of U.S. direct investment abroad is a sample survey that covers 
all foreign affiliates above a size-exemption level. The survey 
collects data on transactions and positions between U.S.-owned foreign 
business enterprises and their U.S. parents. The sample data are used 
to derive quarterly universe estimates from similar data reported in 
the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, which is 
taken every five years. The data are used in the preparation of the 
U.S. international transactions accounts, input-output accounts, and 
national income and product accounts. The data are needed to measure 
the size and economic significance of U.S. direct investment abroad, 
measure changes in such investment, and assess its impact on the U.S. 
and foreign economies. The data are disaggregated by country and 
industry of foreign affiliate.

Executive Order 12866

    This final rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E. O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This final rule does 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 in this final rule has been approved 
by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (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 OMB control number. The OMB control number 
for the BE-577 is 0608-0004; the collection will display the number.
    The survey is expected to result in the filing of about 13,500 
foreign affiliate reports by an estimated 1,500 U.S. parent companies. 
The respondent burden for this collection of information

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is estimated to vary from 0.5 hour to 4 hours per response, with an 
average of 1.25 hours per response, including time for reviewing 
instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the 
collection of information. Because reports are filed 4 times per year, 
54,000 responses annually are expected. Thus, the total annual 
respondent burden of the survey is estimated at 67,500 hours (13,500 
respondents times 4 times 1.25 hours average burden). This estimate is 
the same as the burden hours currently carried for this collection in 
the OMB inventory.
    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, fax: 202-606-5311; and the Office of Management and Budget, 
O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction Project 0608-0004, Attention PRA Desk 
Officer for BEA, via the Internet at [email protected], or by fax at 
202-395-7245.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business 
Administration, under the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act 
(5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that this rule will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. The factual basis for 
the certification was published in the proposed rule and is not 
repeated here. No comments were received regarding the economic impact 
of the rule. As a result, no final regulatory flexibility analysis was 
prepared.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806

    International transactions, Economic statistics, U.S. investment 
abroad, Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: May 26, 2006.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA is amending 15 CFR part 
806 as follows:

PART 806--DIRECT INVESTMENT SURVEYS

0
1. The authority citation for 15 CFR part 806 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108; E.O. 11961 (3 CFR, 
1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 12318 (3 CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 
173); E.O. 12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348).


Sec.  806.14  [Amended]

0
2. Section 806.14 (e) is amended by removing ``$30,000,000'' and adding 
``$40,000,000'' in its place.
 [FR Doc. E6-9608 Filed 6-19-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P