[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 151 (Wednesday, August 5, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47359-47361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17046]


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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Intent To 
Revise Collection 3038-0005, Adoption of Revised Notice of Exemption 
Under Regulation 4.13(b)(1)

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) 
is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the recent 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 regulation requiring the filing of a notice of exemption by 
persons seeking to claim relief from registration as a commodity pool 
operator (CPO). This Federal Register notice solicits comments on the 
PRA implications of the revision to that required notice of exemption, 
including comments addressing adjustments in burden to the relevant 
information collection requirement of the revised exemption notice.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 5, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``OMB control number 
3038-0005; Adoption of Revised Notice of Exemption under 17 CFR 
4.13(b)(1),'' by any of the following methods:
     CFTC Comments Portal: https://comments.cftc.gov. Select 
the ``Submit Comments'' link for this notice and follow the 
instructions on the Public Comment Form.
     Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the 
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Follow the same instructions as for 
Mail, above. Please submit your comments using only one of these 
methods. Submissions through the CFTC Comments Portal are encouraged.
    All comments must be submitted in English or, if not, be 
accompanied by an English translation. Comments will be posted as 
received to https://comments.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 (FOIA), a petition for 
confidential treatment of the exempt information may be submitted 
according to the procedures established in Commission regulation 
145.9.\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 https://comments.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

[[Page 47360]]

required under the Administrative Procedure Act and other applicable 
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laws, and may be accessible under the FOIA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joshua Sterling, Director, (202) 418-
6700, [email protected]; Amanda Olear, Deputy Director, (202) 418-
5283, [email protected]; or Elizabeth Groover, Special Counsel, (202) 
418-5985, [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, 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. 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. The 
Commission believes that its revision of the notice of exemption 
required by Regulation 4.13(b)(1), as discussed further below, results 
in a collection of information within the meaning of the PRA. As such, 
the Commission is publishing for notice and comment the following 
revisions to the information collection associated with that notice.
    Title: Rules Relating to the Operations and Activities of Commodity 
Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors and to Monthly Reporting 
by Futures Commission Merchants (OMB control number 3038-0005). This is 
a request for extension and revision of this currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: The Commission recently revised the notice of exemption 
required by Regulation 4.13(b)(1) of any person who desires to claim 
the relief from CPO registration.\2\ The various collections of 
information required by part 4 of the Commission's regulations, 
including the notice required by Regulation 4.13(b)(1), were previously 
approved by OMB in accordance with the PRA and assigned OMB control 
number 3038-0005. The Commission offers the following summary of the 
revision to the notice and the resulting estimated impact on existing 
burden hour estimates associated with this information collection.
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    \2\ 17 CFR 4.13(b)(1).
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Revision to the Notice of Exemption

    On June 4, 2020, the Commission adopted an amendment to Regulation 
4.13(b)(1) that added a representation to the notice already required 
to be electronically filed with the Commission by persons claiming an 
exemption from CPO registration thereunder.\3\ With that amendment, the 
Commission is requiring persons filing a notice of exemption thereunder 
to also represent that neither the person nor any of its principals has 
in its background a statutory disqualification listed in section 8a(2) 
of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or Act) that would require 
disclosure, if the person sought registration. Subject to one limited 
exception, the amended regulation provides that a person who has, or 
whose principals have, in their backgrounds a statutory 
disqualification under CEA section 8a(2) will generally be prohibited 
from claiming an exemption from CPO registration under Regulation 4.13. 
The Commission intended this amendment to eliminate the inconsistent 
treatment of exempt CPOs as compared to registered CPOs (and the 
principals thereof), whereby certain persons could avoid the CEA's 
basic conduct requirements established for all persons registering as 
intermediaries with the Commission by claiming an exemption from CPO 
registration instead. Ultimately, the Commission's stated purpose in 
adopting this amendment was to improve the customer protection and 
general investor confidence experienced by exempt pool participants.
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    \3\ Amendments to Registration and Compliance Requirements for 
Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors: Prohibiting 
Exemptions under Regulation 4.13 on Behalf of Persons Subject to 
Certain Statutory Disqualifications, 85 FR 40877 (July 8, 2020) 
(Statutory Disqualifications Final Rule).
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    The Commission noted in the Statutory Disqualifications Final Rule 
that the amendment in its proposed form had not implicated an 
additional or existing collection of information, and thus, the 
proposed regulation was not considered in the PRA context.\4\ Because 
the Statutory Disqualifications Final Rule resulted in a representation 
being added to the existing notice filing in Regulation 4.13(b), the 
Commission determined that this amendment constitutes the modification 
of an existing information collection; as such, its PRA implications 
are being considered in this separately published notice.
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    \4\ Statutory Disqualifications Final Rule, 85 FR 40887.
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    By adding this representation to the notice of exemption, the 
Commission recognizes that the existing information collection burden 
for that notice, currently 0.1 hours, is expected to increase. The 
Commission estimates that the representation would add a total of 0.2 
burden hours to the information collection burdens currently estimated 
for the notice of exemption under Regulation 4.13(b)(1), for an 
aggregate total of 0.3 burden hours. Additionally, the Commission 
estimates that currently, approximately 8,600 respondents would claim 
an exemption via the Regulation 4.13(b)(1) notice filing.

Invitation to Comment

    Regarding the information collection 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., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    Burden Statement: As explained above, the Commission believes that 
the addition of a representation to the notice of exemption required by 
Regulation 4.13(b)(1) increases the information collection burden 
associated with that notice under OMB control numbers 3038-0005.
    OMB Control Number 3038-0005:
    The Commission estimates that as a result of revising the notice of 
exemption under Regulation 4.13(b)(1), the burden of the collection of 
information under OMB control number 3038-0005 \5\ would be as follows:
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    \5\ OMB control number 3038-0005 currently covers two separate 
Information Collections (``IC''): (1) Part 4 Commodity Pool 
Operators and Commodity Trading Advisors IC, and (2) Commodity Pool 
Operator Annual Report IC. The estimates in this notice reflect 
changes specifically made by the Statutory Disqualifications Final 
Rule to the Part 4 Commodity Pool Operators and Commodity Trading 
Advisors IC, for which the current active information collection 
estimates of 43,397 respondents and 354,333 burden hours were 
approved by OMB on March 6, 2020 (ICR Reference No. 201912-3038-
001). The aggregate burden for OMB control number 3038-0005 may be 
further impacted by a separate rulemaking, Amendments to Compliance 
Requirements for Commodity Pool Operators on Form CPO-PQR, published 
in the Federal Register, 85 FR 26378 (May 4, 2020). Neither the 
Statutory Disqualification Final Rule nor the Form CPO-PQR 
rulemaking impact the estimates of the Commodity Pool Operator 
Annual Report IC, which remain the same.

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[[Page 47361]]

    Respondents/affected entities: (1) All persons filing a notice of 
exemption as required by Regulation 4.13(b)(1) for the purpose of 
claiming relief from CPO registration, and (2) all principals of such 
persons.
    Estimated number of respondents: 8,600.
    Estimated number of exempt pools/reports per respondent: 3.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 8,600 hours.\6\
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    \6\ The burden hour per response is 0.3 burden hour for an 
aggregate total of 0.9 burden hour for all three responses per 
respondent. This estimate has been rounded up to 1 burden hour for 
all three responses per respondent.
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    Frequency of collection: Annually.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.

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

    Dated: July 31, 2020.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-17046 Filed 8-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P