[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