[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 110 (Thursday, June 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30913-30914]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12194]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment 
Request; Services Surveys: BE-45, Quarterly Survey of Insurance 
Transactions by U.S. Insurance Companies With Foreign Persons

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of Information Collection, request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information 
collections, which helps us assess the impact of our information 
collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow for 60 days of public comment 
preceding submission of the collection to OMB.

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments regarding this proposed 
information collection must be received on or before August 9, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments to 
Christopher Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, by email to [email protected] or [email protected]. 
Please reference OMB Control Number 0608-0066 in the subject line of 
your comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
specific questions related to collection activities should be directed 
to Christopher Stein, Chief, Services Surveys Branch, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis; 301-278-9189; or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    The Quarterly Survey of Insurance Transactions by U.S. Insurance 
Companies with Foreign Persons (Form BE-45) is a survey that collects 
data from U.S. persons who engage in covered insurance transactions. A 
U.S. person means any individual, branch, partnership, associated 
group, association, estate, trust, corporation, or other organization 
(whether or not organized under the laws of any State), resident in the 
United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. A 
U.S. person must report if they had combined transactions in the 
covered insurance services with foreign persons that exceeded $8 
million (based on absolute value) for the previous calendar year or are 
expected to exceed that amount during the current calendar year.
    The data are needed to monitor U.S. trade in insurance services, to 
analyze the impact of these cross-border services on the U.S. and 
foreign economies, to compile and improve the U.S. economic accounts, 
to support U.S. commercial policy on trade in services, to conduct 
trade promotion, and to improve the ability of U.S. businesses to 
identify and evaluate market opportunities. The data are used in 
estimating the trade in insurance services component of the U.S. 
international transactions accounts (ITAs) and national income and 
product accounts (NIPAs).
    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is proposing a single 
modification to the survey reporting requirements and a change to the 
survey due date, beginning with reporting for first quarter 2022. The 
proposed modifications to the BE-45 survey would allow BEA to increase 
the quality and usefulness of BEA's statistics on trade in insurance 
services.
    BEA proposes to adjust the reporting requirements of the survey so 
they are applied based on a combined threshold for premiums, losses, 
and auxiliary services, for the eight covered transaction categories: 
(1) Premiums earned on reinsurance assumed from insurance companies 
resident abroad; (2) losses incurred on reinsurance assumed from 
insurance companies resident abroad; (3) premiums earned on primary 
insurance sold to foreign persons; (4) losses incurred on primary 
insurance sold to foreign persons; (5) premiums incurred on reinsurance 
ceded to insurance companies resident abroad; (6) losses recovered on 
reinsurance ceded to insurance companies resident abroad; (7) receipts 
for auxiliary insurance services; and (8) payments for auxiliary 
insurance

[[Page 30914]]

services. U.S. persons with combined transactions in excess of $8 
million (based on absolute value), would be required to disaggregate 
all transaction types by country and by relationship of the foreign 
transactor to the U.S. reporter (foreign affiliate, foreign parent 
group, or unaffiliated) on the mandatory schedule(s). On the current 
survey, the reporting requirements are applied for each transaction 
type separately. This change will align the survey's reporting 
requirements with those of the other quarterly services surveys 
conducted by BEA.
    BEA also proposes to change the due date of the survey to 30 days 
after the close of each calendar quarter from 45 days for the three 
quarters that are not the final calendar quarter of the year. For the 
close of the final calendar quarter of the year, reports would be due 
45 days after the close of the quarter instead of 90 days. Shortening 
the reporting timeline will allow BEA to produce more accurate and 
complete trade in services statistics in preliminary estimates of the 
ITAs, which is critical information for policymakers' timely decisions 
on international trade policy. The earlier due date will allow BEA to 
use more reported data for preliminary statistics, improving the 
accuracy of both the aggregates and the country detail, and reducing 
revisions in subsequent statistical releases. In addition, the proposed 
reporting deadlines are also consistent with the reporting deadlines of 
BEA's quarterly direct investment surveys.
    BEA estimates there will be a small change in the number of 
respondents that would now be required to provide additional country 
and affiliation detail on the mandatory schedules due to the change in 
reporting requirements. Most quarterly respondents are large enough 
that they are already required to report detail on the mandatory 
schedules. BEA estimates that approximately 13 additional respondents 
would now be required to provide the additional detail that were not 
previously required to do so, and on average would report transactions 
with 3 countries.
    The additional mandatory reporting for individual transactions 
previously below the reporting thresholds, resulting from the 
application of the threshold to combined transactions, should have a 
minimal impact on reporting burden for the reporters who will now be 
required to complete the mandatory schedules. Since these respondents 
represent only a small portion of the total number of reporters already 
filing full country and affiliation detail, and because BEA believes 
this data is readily available in their existing accounting records, 
overall burden for completing the full survey with data will continue 
to average 9 hours per response.
    BEA estimates there will be no change in burden hours per response 
as a result of the proposed change in survey due dates. While survey 
respondents will have to file earlier, the burden for the survey is 
unchanged because the same information will be required on the survey 
as in the past. The language in the instructions and definitions will 
be reviewed and adjusted as necessary to clarify survey requirements.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA contacts potential respondents by mail at the end of each 
quarter. Respondents would be required to file the completed BE-45 
forms within 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter that is not 
the final quarter of the year and within 45 days after the close of the 
final calendar quarter of the year. Reports would be required from each 
U.S. person that had combined transactions in the covered insurance 
services with foreign persons that exceeded $8 million (based on 
absolute value), for the previous calendar year or are expected to 
exceed that amount during the current calendar year. Entities required 
to report will be contacted individually by BEA. Entities not contacted 
by BEA have no reporting responsibilities.
    BEA offers its electronic filing option, the eFile system, for use 
in reporting on Form BE-45. For more information about eFile, go to 
www.bea.gov/efile. In addition, BEA posts all its survey forms and 
reporting instructions on its website, www.bea.gov/ssb. These may be 
downloaded, completed, printed, and submitted via fax or mail.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0066.
    Form Number(s): BE-45.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 2,200 annually (550 filed each 
quarter; 515 reporting mandatory data, and 35 that would file exemption 
claims or voluntary responses).
    Estimated Time per Response: 9 hours is the average for those 
reporting data and one hour is the average for those filing an 
exemption claim. Hours may vary considerably among respondents because 
of differences in company size and complexity.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,680.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $0.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: International Investment and Trade in Services 
Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108, as amended).

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) 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; (b) the accuracy of the Agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments that you submit in response to this notice are a matter of 
public record. We will include or summarize each comment in our request 
to OMB to approve this ICR. Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2021-12194 Filed 6-9-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P