[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 103 (Wednesday, May 31, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24955-24957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11114]


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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 ICR describes the nature of 
the information collection and its expected costs and burden.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before June 30, 2017.

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 (OIA) in OMB within 30 days of this notice's 
publication by either of the following methods. Please identify the 
comments by ``OMB Control No. 3038-0049.''
     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 (the ``Commission'') by either of 
the following methods. The copies should refer to ``OMB Control No. 
3038-0049.''
     By mail addressed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary 
of the

[[Page 24956]]

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 Web site at http://comments.cftc.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting 
comments through the Web site.
    A copy of the supporting statements 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\
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    \1\ 17 CFR 145.9.
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    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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel, 
Division of Clearing and Risk, (202) 418-5926, email: 
[email protected]; Meghan Tente, Special Counsel, Division of 
Clearing and Risk, (202) 418-5785, email: [email protected]; Jacob 
Chachkin, Special Counsel, Division of Swaps and Intermediary 
Oversight, (202) 418-5496, email: [email protected]; or Dana Brown, 
Paralegal Specialist, Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418-5093, 
email: [email protected]; or (202)418-5093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Procedural Requirements for Requests for Interpretative, No-
Action and Exemptive Letters (OMB Control No. 3038-0049). This is a 
request for an extension of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Abstract: 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. This collection covers the information 
requirements for voluntary requests for, and the issuance of, 
interpretative, no-action, and exemptive letters submitted to 
Commission staff pursuant to the provisions of Sec.  140.99 of the 
Commission's regulations,\2\ and related requests for confidential 
treatment pursuant to Sec.  140.98(b) \3\ of the Commission's 
regulations. It includes reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
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    \2\ 17 CFR 140.99. An archive containing CFTC staff letters may 
be found at http://www.cftc.gov/LawRegulation/CFTCStaffLetters/index.htm.
    \3\ 17 CFR 140.98(b).
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    The collection requirements described herein are voluntary. They 
apply to parties that choose to request a benefit from Commission staff 
in the form of the regulatory action described in Sec.  140.99. Such 
benefits may include, for example, relief from some or all of the 
burdens associated with other collections of information, relief from 
regulatory obligations that do not constitute collections of 
information, interpretations, or extensions of time for compliance with 
certain Commission regulations. It is likely that persons who would opt 
to request action under Sec.  140.99 will have determined that the 
information collection burdens that they would assume by doing so will 
be outweighed substantially by the relief that they seek to receive.
    The information collection associated with Sec.  140.99 of the 
Commission's regulations is necessary, and would be used, to assist 
Commission staff in understanding the type of relief that is being 
requested and the basis for the request. It is also necessary, and 
would be used, to provide staff with a sufficient basis for determining 
whether: (1) Granting the relief would be necessary or appropriate 
under the facts and circumstances presented by the requestor; (2) the 
relief provided should be conditional and/or time-limited; and (3) 
granting the relief would be consistent with staff responses to 
requests that have been presented under similar facts and 
circumstances. In some cases, the requested relief might be granted 
upon the condition that those who seek the benefits of that relief 
fulfill certain notice and other reporting obligations that serve as 
substituted compliance for regulatory requirements that would otherwise 
be imposed. In some cases, the conditions might include reporting or 
recordkeeping requirements that are necessary to ensure that the relief 
granted by Commission staff is appropriate. In some cases, the parties 
obtaining relief may be subject to reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements that are necessary to monitor for the parties' compliance 
with the conditions imposed. The foregoing categories may or may not be 
overlapping. Once again, it is likely that those who would comply with 
these conditions will have determined that the burden of complying with 
the conditions is outweighed by the benefit of the relief that they 
seek to receive. The information collection associated with Sec.  
140.98(b) of the Commission's regulations is necessary to provide a 
mechanism whereby persons requesting no-action, interpretative and 
exemption letters may seek temporary confidential treatment of their 
request and the Commission staff response thereto and the grounds upon 
which such confidential treatment is sought.
    On March 29, 2017, 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, 82 FR 
15514, March 29, 2017 (``60-Day Notice'').
    Burden Statement: In order to establish estimates of the annual 
information collection burden associated with the exemptive, no-action 
and interpretative letters that may be issued by Commission staff 
during the three year renewal period, Commission staff reviewed the 
letters of this type that were issued by Commission staff during 2016. 
This timeframe was chosen because it was believed that such recent 
experience would be indicative of both the quantity of requests that 
Commission staff expects to receive and the quantity of letters that 
Commission staff expects to issue on an annual basis during the renewal 
period and the information collection burdens that may be associated 
with them. In some cases, the relief granted in 2016 is unlikely to be 
requested again as it has been superseded by a Commission rulemaking. 
The projected burden estimates for the renewal period were not reduced 
accordingly in order to account for the possibility that new issues may 
arise. It is also possible that certain relief granted in 2016 may be 
superseded by a future Commission rulemaking. As future rulemakings and 
their effective dates are speculative, the estimates for the renewal 
period have not been reduced to account for potential rulemakings.
    The annual respondent burden for this collection during the renewal 
period is estimated to be as follows:

[[Page 24957]]

    Estimated Number of Respondents: 284.
    Estimated Average Annual Burden Hours per Respondent: 9.5.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,704.
    Frequency of Collection: Occasional.
    Type of Respondents: Respondents include persons registered with 
the Commission (such as commodity pool operators, commodity trading 
advisors, derivatives clearing organizations, designated contract 
markets, futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, swap 
dealers, and swap execution facilities); persons seeking an exemption 
from registration; persons whose registration with the Commission is 
pending; trade associations and their members; eligible contract 
participants; and other persons seeking relief from discrete regulatory 
requirements.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.
    These estimates, as set forth in greater detail below, include the 
burden hours for complying with the information requirements for 
exemptive, no-action and interpretative letters contained in Sec.  
140.99(c) of the Commission's regulations; effecting the filing of such 
letters pursuant to Sec.  140.99(d); providing notice to Commission 
staff of materially changed facts and circumstances pursuant to Sec.  
140.99(c)(3)(ii); complying with any conditions and monitoring that may 
be contained in a grant of no-action or exemptive relief pursuant to 
Sec.  140.99(e); complying with requirements to make disclosures to 
third parties; and preparing and submitting withdrawals of requests for 
exemptive, no-action and interpretative letters, as provided in Sec.  
140.99(f). The estimates also include burden hours related to a request 
for confidential treatment made pursuant to Sec.  140.98(b) of the 
Commission's regulations.\4\
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    \4\ The Commission now includes the collection of information 
related to Commission regulation 41.3(b), which involves exemption 
requests from certain intermediaries, under OMB number 3038-0059 
and, as such, is no longer including it in this OMB number.
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    The burden hours associated with requests for exemptive, no-action 
and interpretative letters include both the drafting and filing of the 
request itself as well as performing the underlying factual or legal 
analysis generally to comply with the information collection. The 
burden hours associated with individual requests will vary widely, 
depending upon the type and complexity of relief requested, whether the 
request presents novel or complex issues, the relevant facts and 
circumstances, and the number of requestors or other affected entities. 
The Commission provides estimates of the amount of time that any 
requestor spends on any particular request as each request is unique, 
based upon the preceding factors.

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                                                           Estimated                    Estimated
                                            Estimated   annual reports     Total         average      Estimated
                                              annual       or records      annual       number of       annual
                                           respondents        per        responses      hours per       burden
                                                          respondent                    response        hours
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                                                    REPORTING
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Sec.   140.99(c)--information                       78               1           78            24.7        1,930
 requirements for letters................
Sec.   140.99(d)--filing requirements....           78               1           78               1           78
Sec.   140.99(c)(3)(ii)--materially                  5               1            5               3           15
 changed facts and circumstances.........
Sec.   140.99(e)--staff response                    16               1           16               5           80
 (conditions imposed)....................
Sec.   140.99(f)--withdrawal of requests.            5               1            5               1            5
Sec.   140.98(b)--requests for                      42               1           42               1           42
 confidential treatment..................
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    Total Reporting......................          224               1          224             9.6        2,150
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                                                  RECORDKEEPING
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Sec.   140.99(e)--staff response                    54               4          216               1          216
 (conditions imposed)....................
Disclosures to Third Parties.............            6            56.4          338               1          338
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    Total................................          284             2.7          778             3.5        2,704
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    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

    Dated: May 24, 2017.
Robert N. Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017-11114 Filed 5-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6351-01-P