[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45617-45618]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20916]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1998-54 
Relating to Certain Employee Benefit Plan Foreign Exchange Transactions 
Executed Pursuant to Standing Instructions

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting the Employee 
Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) sponsored information 
collection request (ICR) titled, ``Prohibited Transaction Class 
Exemption 1998-54 Relating to Certain Employee Benefit Plan Foreign 
Exchange Transactions Executed Pursuant to Standing Instructions,'' to 
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval for 
continued use, without change, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives 
on or before October 30, 2017.

ADDRESSES: A copy of this ICR with applicable supporting documentation; 
including a description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency 
of response, and estimated total burden may be obtained free of charge 
from the RegInfo.gov Web site at http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201707-1210-001 (this link will only become active 
on the day following publication of this notice) or by contacting 
Michel Smyth by telephone at 202-693-4129, TTY 202-693-8064, (these are 
not toll-free numbers) or by email at [email protected].
    Submit comments about this request by mail to the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs, Attn: OMB Desk Officer for DOL-
EBSA, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10235, 725 17th Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20503; by Fax: 202-395-5806 (this is not a toll-free 
number); or by email: [email protected]. Commenters are 
encouraged, but not required, to send a courtesy copy of any comments 
by mail or courier to the U.S. Department of Labor--OASAM, Office of 
the Chief Information Officer, Attn: Departmental Information 
Compliance Management Program, Room N1301, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20210; or by email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michel Smyth by telephone at 202-693-
4129, TTY 202-693-8064, (these are not toll-free numbers) or by email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This ICR seeks to extend PRA authority for 
the information collection requirements contained in Prohibited 
Transaction Class Exemption (PTE) 1998-54 that relates to certain 
employee benefit plan foreign exchange transactions executed pursuant 
to standing instructions. More specifically, the PTE permits certain 
foreign exchange transactions between employee benefit plans and 
certain banks and broker-dealers that are parties in interest with 
respect to such plans. In order that such transactions be consistent 
with Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 408(a), 29 
U.S.C. 1108/(a), requirements, the PTE imposes the following conditions 
at the time the foreign exchange transaction is entered into: (a) The 
terms of the transaction must not be less favorable than those 
available in comparable arm's-length transactions between unrelated 
parties or those afforded by the bank or the broker-dealer in 
comparable arm's-length transactions involving unrelated parties; (b) 
neither the bank nor the broker-dealer has any discretionary authority 
with respect to the investment of the assets involved in the 
transaction; (c) the bank or broker-dealer maintains at all times 
written policies and procedures regarding the handling of foreign 
exchange transactions for plans for which it is a party in interest 
which ensure that the party acting for the bank or the broker-dealer 
knows it is dealing with a plan; (d) the transactions are performed in 
accordance with a written authorization executed in advance by an 
independent fiduciary of the plan whose assets are involved in the 
transaction and who is independent of the bank or broker-dealer 
engaging in the covered transaction; (e) transactions are executed 
within one business day of receipt of funds; (f) the bank or the 
broker-dealer, at least once a day at a time specified in written 
procedures, establishes a rate or range of rates of exchange to be used 
for the transactions covered by this exemption and executes 
transactions at either the next scheduled time or no later than twenty-
four (24) hours after receipt of notice of receipt of funds; (g) prior 
to execution of a transaction, the bank or the broker-dealer provides 
the authorizing fiduciary with a copy of the applicable written 
policies and procedures for foreign exchange transactions involving 
income item conversions and de minimis purchases and sale transactions; 
(h) the bank or the broker-dealer furnishes the authorizing fiduciary a 
written confirmation statement with respect to each covered transaction 
within five (5) days of execution; (i) the bank or the broker-dealer 
maintains records necessary for

[[Page 45618]]

plan fiduciaries, participants, and the DOL and Internal Revenue 
Service to determine whether the conditions of the exemption have been 
met for a period of six years from the date of execution of a 
transaction. Internal Revenue Code of 1986 section 4975 and ERISA 
section 408 authorize this information collection. See 26 U.S.C. 4975; 
29 U.S.C. 1108.
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless it is approved by the OMB under the PRA and displays 
a currently valid OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any 
other provisions of law, no person shall generally be subject to 
penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information that 
does not display a valid Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 
1320.6. The DOL obtains OMB approval for this information collection 
under Control Number 1210-0111.
    OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than three (3) 
years without renewal, and the current approval for this collection is 
scheduled to expire on September 30, 2017. The DOL seeks to extend PRA 
authorization for this information collection for three (3) more years, 
without any change to existing requirements. The DOL notes that 
existing information collection requirements submitted to the OMB 
receive a month-to-month extension while they undergo review. For 
additional substantive information about this ICR, see the related 
notice published in the Federal Register on May 22, 2017 (82 FR 23303).
    Interested parties are encouraged to send comments to the OMB, 
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the address shown in 
the ADDRESSES section within thirty (30) days of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register. In order to help ensure appropriate 
consideration, comments should mention OMB Control Number 1210-0111. 
The OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
     Evaluate 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;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submission of responses.
    Agency: DOL-EBSA.
    Title of Collection: Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 1998-54 
Relating to Certain Employee Benefit Plan Foreign Exchange Transactions 
Executed Pursuant to Standing Instructions.
    OMB Control Number: 1210-0111.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--businesses or other for-profits.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 35.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 420,000.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 4,200 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.

     Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).

    Dated: September 15, 2017.
Michel Smyth,
Departmental Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017-20916 Filed 9-28-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4510-29-P