[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 47 (Monday, March 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8696-8698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-04296]


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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Intent To 
Extend and Revise Collections 3038-0023 and 3038-0072; Adoption of 
Revised Registration Form 7-R

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or the 
``Commission'') is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed extension and revision to the collection of certain 
information by the Commission. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act 
(``PRA''), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the 
Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information and 
to allow 60 days for public comment. The Commission revised its Form 7-
R, the application form that entities that engage in certain specified 
business activities in the derivatives markets regulated by the 
Commission must use to register with the Commission. This notice 
solicits comments on the PRA implications of the revisions to Form 7-R, 
including comments that address the burdens associated with the 
modified information collection requirements of the revised Form 7-R.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 10, 2019.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``OMB control numbers 
3038-0023 and 3038-0072; Adoption of Revised Registration Form 7-R,'' 
by any of the following methods:
     The Agency's website, via its Comments Online process at 
http://comments.cftc.gov/. Follow the instructions for submitting 
comments through the website.
     Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the 
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail above.
    Please submit your comments using only one method. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Kulkin, Director, 202-418-
5213, [email protected]; or Christopher Cummings, Special Counsel, 202-
418-5445, [email protected], Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary 
Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., 
Federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and 
Budget (``OMB'') for each collection of information they conduct or 
sponsor. ``Collection of Information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) 
and 5 CFR 1320.3 and includes agency requests or requirements that 
members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide 
information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day 
notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of 
information before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To 
comply with this requirement, the CFTC is publishing notice of the 
proposed revision to the collections of information listed below. 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.
    Titles: Registration Under the Commodity Exchange Act (OMB control 
number 3038-0023); Registration of Swap Dealers and Major Swap 
Participants (OMB control number 3038-0072). This is a request for 
extension and revision of these currently approved information 
collections.
    Abstract: The Commission is revising its Form 7-R,\1\ the 
application form that entities must use to register with the Commission 
as a commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, introducing 
broker, floor trader firm, retail foreign exchange dealer, futures 
commission merchant, leverage transaction merchant, swap dealer, or 
major swap participant. The collections of information related to Form 
7-R were previously approved by OMB in accordance with the PRA and 
assigned OMB control numbers 3038-0023 and 3038-0072.
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    \1\ See, Adoption of Revised Registration Form 7-R, published in 
the Federal Register concurrently with this Notice that contains the 
revised version of Form 7-R, incorporating the changes discussed in 
this notice.
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1. Form 7-R Revision

    The revised Form 7-R contains several changes that, when considered 
together in aggregate, result in no net change to the existing 
information collection burden associated with Form 7-R. That burden 
varies by registration category and is currently 0.5 hour for futures 
commission merchants, 0.4 hour for introducing brokers, 0.4 hour for 
commodity pool operators, 0.4 hour for commodity trading advisors, 0.5 
hour for floor trader firms, 0.5 hour for retail foreign exchange 
dealers, 1 hour for swap dealers, and 1 hour for major swap 
participants. Discussion of the noteworthy changes follows.
    In the section titled ``Location of Business Records,'' Form 7-R no 
longer separately requests that non-U.S. applicants identify the non-
U.S. address where their business records are located. Instead, both 
U.S. and non-U.S. applicants are required to comply only with the 
existing requirements of Form 7-R to identify the location of their 
business records, which remain unchanged, and, for non-U.S. applicants, 
to indicate that such records will be produced for inspection at NFA's 
offices, or at another physical location (not a post office box) within 
the U.S that the applicant identifies.
    In the section titled ``Holding Company Information,'' the revised 
Form 7-R requests additional information about any entity that is a 
principal (as defined in Form 7-R) of the applicant. Form 7-R 
previously required applicants to identify by name any entity that was 
a principal of the applicant. The revised Form 7-R requires, for each 
entity that is identified as a principal of the applicant, then the 
applicant also must provide the entity's Federal EIN and the location 
where the entity is incorporated, organized, or established. This 
additional information is intended to ensure accurate identification of 
the entity, given that firms sometimes can have the same or similar 
names.
    In the section titled ``Disciplinary Information--Regulatory 
Disclosures,'' a new question was added to existing Question E. The new 
question directs the applicant to disclose whether it has ever been 
found to have failed to supervise another person's activities under any 
investment-related statute or regulation. The new question is intended 
to ensure complete disclosure of conduct that may result in a refusal 
or limitation on registration.
    Items that pertain only to NFA membership have been removed from 
the form. In the past, Form 7-R functioned as a registration form for 
the Commission and NFA, and as an application for NFA membership. To 
the extent that questions ask for information that is necessary for NFA

[[Page 8697]]

membership but is not necessary for registration, those questions have 
been removed from the form and will appear in a separate application 
for NFA membership. Specifically, revised Form 7-R no longer contains: 
a series of questions that inquire whether the applicant will transact 
in retail off-exchange foreign currency, swap, futures, or options; a 
question that is directed to applicants that are registering in 
multiple capacities that asks them to select the capacity in which they 
intend to vote on NFA membership matters; a question that asks 
applicants that are applying to register as a futures commission 
merchant to indicate whether the applicant has applied for membership 
at any United States commodity exchange; a question that asks an 
applicant that is applying for registration as a swap dealer or major 
swap participant to indicate whether the applicant is currently 
regulated by other U.S. regulators and to identify those regulators; 
and lastly, contact information for the applicant's Membership Contact, 
Accounting Contact, Assessment Fee Contact, Arbitration Contact, 
Compliance Contact, or Chief Compliance Officer Contact.
    Additionally, NFA is simplifying the process by which it requests 
supplemental information and documentation regarding the applicant's 
criminal, regulatory or financial disclosures. The prior version of 
Form 7-R requested that applicants provide a written explanation of the 
facts and circumstances regarding any such disclosures. Applicants were 
also separately requested to provide NFA with copies of pertinent 
documents associated with each disclosure. To consolidate and modernize 
this process, the revised Form 7-R allows applicants to complete 
electronically a separate ``Disclosure Matter Page'' for each matter, 
instance or event requiring disclosure and to simultaneously upload all 
pertinent documents associated with each disclosure. The Disclosure 
Matter Page provides applicants with an efficient and effective method 
of supplying the supplemental information and documentation that NFA 
requests in the normal course whenever an applicant responds 
affirmatively to any of the questions regarding criminal, regulatory or 
financial disclosures.
    Lastly, revised Form 7-R contains several changes that do not alter 
the information collection burdens associated with Form 7-R. The 
revised Form 7-R incorporates new functionality throughout the form, 
consisting of hyperlinks to the text of the applicable provisions of 
the Commodity Exchange Act, Commission Regulations, and NFA Rules, 
whenever those authorities are referenced in the form. Additionally, 
revised Form 7-R incorporates certain clarifying language where 
appropriate. For example, the term ``futures'' has been replaced with 
the term ``derivatives'' in several locations to more accurately 
reflect the full scope of the Commission's jurisdiction. Similarly, the 
reference to a failure to pay an award issued in a futures-related 
arbitration was replaced with the phrase failure to pay an award 
related to a CFTC-related product. The revised Form 7-R contains other 
changes to the language, formatting and organization of Form 7-R, all 
of which--individually and collectively--do not alter the information 
collection burdens associated with Form 7-R. The only changes to Form 
7-R that could affect the information collection burdens associated 
with the form are those discussed above.

2. Invitation to Comment

    With respect to the information collections discussed above, the 
CFTC invites comments on:
     Whether the proposed revision to the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information will have a practical 
use;
     The accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed revision to the collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of collection of information 
on those who are to respond, including through the further use of 
appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; e.g., 
further enhancing electronic submission of responses.
    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 Regulation 
145.9.\2\
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    \2\ 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 information collection request 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.
    Burden Statement: As explained above, the Commission believes that 
the revisions to Form 7-R will result in no net change to the 
information collection burdens associated with that Form under OMB 
control numbers 3038-0023 and 3038-0072.\3\
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    \3\ The revisions to Form 7-R do not change the existing 
estimated number of respondents under OMB control numbers 3038-0023 
and 3038-0072. This estimate includes the collection burdens 
associated with Forms 7-R, 7-W, 8-R and 8-T, based on the historical 
practice of the Commission of addressing the burden estimates in 
aggregate, rather than separately on a form-by-form basis, for all 
of the registration forms: Forms 7-R, 7-W, 8-R, and 8-W.
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     The Commission estimates the burden of this collection of 
information under OMB control number 3038-0023 to be:
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Users of Form 7-R that are futures 
commission merchants, retail foreign exchange dealers, introducing 
brokers, commodity trading advisors, commodity pool operators, floor 
trader firms, and leverage transaction merchants.
    Estimated number of respondents: 78.055.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 7,735 hours.
    Frequency of collection: Periodically.
There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.
     The Commission estimates the burden of this collection of 
information under OMB control number 3038-0072 to be:
    Respondents/Affected Entities: Users of Form 7-R that are swap 
dealers and major swap participants. The following estimates are based 
on the average annual number of swap dealer and major swap participant 
Form 7-R filers for the past three years.
    Estimated number of respondents: 772.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 672 hours.
    Frequency of collection: Periodically.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)


[[Page 8698]]


    Dated: March 5, 2019.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2019-04296 Filed 3-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6351-01-P