[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 186 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60135-60137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21096]


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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 Information and 
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), of 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 October 26, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be submitted within 30 days of this 
notice's publication to OIRA, at https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Please find this particular information collection by 
selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' 
or by using the website's search function. Comments can be entered 
electronically by clicking on the ``comment'' button next to the 
information collection on the ``OIRA Information Collections Under 
Review'' page, or the ``View ICR--Agency Submission'' page. A copy of 
the supporting statement for the collection of information discussed 
herein may be obtained by visiting https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.

[[Page 60136]]

    In addition to the submission of comments to https://Reginfo.gov as 
indicated above, a copy of all comments submitted to OIRA may also be 
submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the 
``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') by clicking on the ``Submit Comment'' box 
next to the descriptive entry for OMB Control No. 3038-0079, at https://comments.cftc.gov/FederalRegister/PublicInfo.aspx.
    Or by either of the following methods:
     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.
    All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied 
by an English translation. Comments submitted to the Commission should 
include 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\ 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://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.
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    \1\ 17 CFR 145.9.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jacob Chachkin, Special Counsel, 
Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, (202) 418-5496; email: [email protected], and 
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refer to OMB Control No. 3038-0079.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Swap Dealer and Major Swap Participant Conflicts of Interest 
and Business Conduct Standards with Counterparties (OMB Control No. 
3038-0079). This is a request for an extension of a currently approved 
information collection.
    Abstract: Section 731 of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 
124 Stat. 1376 (2010)) amended the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) to add 
sections 4s(h) and 4s(j)(5) (7 U.S.C. 6s(h) and (j)(5)) which provide 
the Commission with both mandatory and discretionary rulemaking 
authority to impose business conduct requirements on swap dealers (SDs) 
and major swap participants (MSPs) in their dealings with 
counterparties, including ``Special Entities,'' \2\ and require that 
each SD and MSP implement conflicts of interest systems and procedures. 
Congress granted the Commission broad discretionary authority to 
promulgate business conduct requirements, as appropriate in the public 
interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance 
of the purposes of the CEA.\3\
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    \2\ Such entities are generally defined to include Federal 
agencies, States and political subdivisions, employee benefit plans 
as defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(ERISA), governmental plans as defined under ERISA, and endowments.
    \3\ See CEA Section 4s(h)(3)(D) (Business conduct requirements 
adopted by the Commission shall establish such other standards and 
requirements as the Commission may determine are appropriate in the 
public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in 
furtherance of the purposes of the CEA.); see also Sections 
4s(h)(1)(D), 4s(h)(5)(B) and 4s(h)(6).
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    Accordingly, the Commission has adopted Subpart H of Part 23 of its 
regulations (EBCS Rules) and Commission regulation 23.605,\4\ requiring 
SDs and MSPs to follow specified procedures and provide specified 
disclosures in their dealings with counterparties, to adopt and 
implement conflicts of interest procedures and disclosures, and to 
maintain specified records related to those requirements.
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    \4\ 17 CFR part 23, subpart H and 17 CFR 23.605. Subpart H of 
Part 23 is titled ``Business Conduct Standards for Swap Dealers and 
Major Swap Participants Dealing with Counterparties, Including 
Special Entities.'' Subpart H includes the following provisions: 
Sec.  23.400 (Scope); Sec.  23.401 (Definitions); Sec.  23.402 
(General Provisions); Sec.  23.410 (Prohibition on fraud, 
manipulation and other abusive practices); Sec.  23.430 
(Verification of counterparty eligibility); Sec.  23.431 
(Disclosures of material information); Sec.  23.432 (Clearing 
disclosures); Sec.  23.433 (Communications--fair dealing); Sec.  
23.434 (Recommendations to counterparties--institutional 
suitability; Sec.  23.440 (Requirements for SDs acting as advisors 
to Special Entities); Sec.  23.450 (Requirements for SDs and MSPs 
acting counterparties to Special Entities); and Sec.  23.451 
(Political contributions by certain SDs). Sec.  23.605 is titled 
Conflicts of interest policies and procedures.
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    In addition, the Commission recently finalized certain exceptions 
from the EBCS Rules for certain foreign swaps in Sec.  23.23(e).\5\ To 
the extent a swap dealer or major swap participant avails itself of one 
or more of these exceptions, when effective, Sec.  23.23(h)(1) imposes 
information collection requirements in lieu of such requirements in the 
EBCS Rules.\6\
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    \5\ 17 CFR part 23.23(e). See Cross-Border Application of the 
Registration Thresholds and Certain Requirements Applicable to Swap 
Dealers and Major Swap Participants, 85 FR 56924 (Sep. 14, 2020).
    \6\ 17 CFR part 23.23(h)(1).
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    The recordkeeping and third-party disclosure obligations imposed by 
the regulations are essential to ensuring that SDs and MSPs develop and 
maintain procedures and disclosures required by the CEA and Commission 
regulations.\7\
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    \7\ Reporting under Commission regulation 23.451 (Political 
contributions by certain SDs) is optional and it is unknown how many 
registrants, if any, will engage in such reporting and how much 
burden, if any, will be incurred. Nevertheless, the Commission is 
providing an estimate of the regulation's burden for purposes of the 
PRA below.
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    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 control number. On July 20, 2020, 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, 85 FR 43821 (``60-Day Notice''). The Commission 
did not receive any relevant comment on the 60-Day Notice.
    Burden Statement: The Commission is revising its estimate of the 
burden for this collection based on the current number of registered 
SDs.\8\ The respondent burden for this collection is estimated to be as 
follows:
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    \8\ Specifically, the change for the renewal is based solely on 
the increased number of entities registered as SDs (102 at the last 
renewal in 2017 and 109 as of September 9, 2020), since the burden 
hour per respondent remains the same, at approximately 2352.9 hours. 
The total annual burden estimate in the 60-Day Notice was based on 
107 registered SDs, but, as noted above, this number has increased 
to 109. (And just as before, there are no entities currently 
registered as MSPs.)
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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 109.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 2352.9 hours.\9\
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    \9\ The Commission expects the paperwork burden of Sec.  
23.23(h)(1), where applicable, in relation to exceptions from the 
EBCS Rules in Sec.  23.23(e) would be less than that of the EBCS 
Rules. However, in an effort to be conservative, because the 
Commission does not know how many swap dealers and/or major swap 
participants will choose to avail themselves of the exceptions in 
Sec.  23.23(e) and for how many of their swaps, the Commission is 
not reducing the estimated burden of these rules to reflect the 
availability of such exceptions.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 256,470 hours.\10\
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    \10\ The total annual burden estimated in the 60-Day Notice, at 
251,765 hours, was based on 107 entities registered as SDs. (See 
also fn.8.) Since this number has increased to 109, the current 
total annual burden, at 256,470 hours, reflects this increase.

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[[Page 60137]]

    Frequency of Collection: Ongoing.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.

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

    Dated: September, 21, 2020.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2020-21096 Filed 9-23-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P