[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 5, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60382-60385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-21545]


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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 November 4, 2022.

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

[[Page 60383]]

obtained by visiting https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
    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 entries for OMB Control Nos. 3038-0096 and 
3038-0070, 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: Tom Guerin, Assistant Chief Counsel, 
Division of Market Oversight, at (202) 836-1933 or [email protected], or 
Paul Chaffin, Assistant Chief Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, at 
(202) 418-5185 or [email protected], Commodity Futures Trading 
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Commission, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: ``Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements'' (OMB 
Control No. 3038-0096) and ``Real-Time Public Reporting'' (OMB Control 
No. 3038-0070). This is a request for revisions to currently approved 
information collections.
    Abstract: Pursuant to section 2(a)(13)(G) of the Commodity Exchange 
Act (``CEA''), all swaps, whether cleared or uncleared, must be 
reported to SDRs.\2\ CEA section 21(b) directs the Commission to 
prescribe standards for swap data recordkeeping and reporting.\3\ Part 
45 of the Commission's regulations implements the swap data reporting 
rules. Section 2(a)(13) of the CEA authorizes and requires the 
Commission to promulgate regulations for the real-time public reporting 
of swap transaction and pricing data.\4\ Part 43 of the Commission's 
regulations implements the real-time public reporting rules. 
Regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e) require that if a SEF, DCM, or reporting 
counterparty determines that it will fail to timely correct an error in 
swap data or swap transaction and pricing data, respectively, it shall 
notify staff of its determination that it will fail to timely correct 
the error.\5\
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    \2\ 7 U.S.C. 2(a)(13)(G).
    \3\ See 7 U.S.C. 24a(b)(1)-(3).
    \4\ 7 U.S.C. 2(a)(13)(E).
    \5\ 17 CFR 45.14(a)(1); 17 CFR 43.3(e)(1). Commission 
regulations referred to herein are found at 17 CFR Ch. 1.
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    On June 10, 2022, DOD published a ``Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form,'' which sets out the form and manner for 
notifications pursuant to regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e) and enumerates 
information sufficient to provide an initial assessment of the scope of 
the error or errors that were discovered and any initial remediation 
plan for correcting the error or errors, if an initial remediation plan 
exists.\6\ The Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form requests, 
among other things: (1) identifying information for the swap execution 
facility (``SEF''), designated contract market (``DCM''), or reporting 
counterparty making the notification; (2) clarification whether errors 
relate to previously reported and/or unreported swaps; (3) unique swap 
identifiers and/or unique transaction identifiers for transactions 
representative of the error or errors; (4) the asset classes to which 
the error or errors pertain; (5) the number of transactions impacted by 
the error or errors; (6) the percentage of the SEF, DCM, or reporting 
counterparty's reported swap transactions affected by the error and 
that percentage for each impacted asset class; (7) the date the SEF, 
DCM, or reporting counterparty discovered the error or errors and a 
description of how discovery came about; (8) an indication whether the 
issues underlying the error or errors are still producing new errors; 
and (9) any initial remediation plan or, if no initial remediation plan 
exists, an indication of when the SEF, DCM, or reporting counterparty 
expects to have a remediation plan. The Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form, which will be required for error data notifications 
after December 5, 2022, is appended to CFTC Letter 22-06 and is 
available as a stand-alone form on the Commission's website.\7\
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    \6\ See CFTC Letter 22-06.
    \7\ See Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form, available 
at https://www.cftc.gov/LawRegulation/DoddFrankAct/Rulemakings/DF_17_Recordkeeping/index.htm.
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    As the Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form provides the 
form and manner and specifies sufficient information required to 
satisfy information collections under regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e), 
the Commission does not believe it imposes new information collection 
requirements beyond those adopted by the Commission in November 
2020.\8\ The information collection requirements under OMB Control Nos. 
3038-0096 and Information Collection 3038-0070 are necessary to obtain 
information detailing the cause, nature, and scope of swap data errors.
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    \8\ See Final Rule, Certain Swap Data Repository and Data 
Reporting Requirements, 85 FR 75601, 75633-75634 (Nov. 25, 2020).
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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 June 24, 2022, the Commission 
published in the Federal Register notice of the proposed revision of 
this information collection and provided 60 days for public comment on 
the proposed revision, 87 FR 37839 (``60-Day Notice''). The Commission 
received two relevant comments on the 60-Day Notice,\9\ which are 
discussed below.
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    \9\ The following entities submitted a relevant comment letter: 
Bloomberg SEF LLC (``BSEF'') and BP Energy Company (``BPEC''). Other 
comments submitted did not concern the PRA burden for information 
collections under regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e).
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    First, BSEF commented on aspects of the error correction 
notification process related specifically to SEFs. BSEF proposed that 
SEFs be permitted to submit the Swap Data Error Correction Notification 
Forms through the CFTC portal rather than via email, but did not 
specify any impact of this proposal on the Commission's burden 
estimate.\10\ It also stated that it believes certain notifications 
related to open swaps that may be required by the Swap Data Error

[[Page 60384]]

Correction Notification Form will be impossible for a SEF to complete, 
as SEFs do not generally possess open swaps information.\11\ BSEF 
suggests this would impose a new collection of information.\12\ BSEF 
also stated it believed the Commission has underestimated the burden 
hours required by the information collection because, for a SEF, there 
may be multiple reports per year triggered by its participants.\13\
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    \10\ BSEF at 2.
    \11\ BSEF at 2-4.
    \12\ BSEF at 2-4.
    \13\ BSEF at 5.
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    Second, BSEF and BPEC both commented on the timelines for error 
correction notifications. BSEF stated that the Swap Data Error 
Correction Notification Form should be revised to account for the fact 
that a remediation plan may not be available at the time the form is 
required to be filed.\14\ BPEC stated that it may be difficult to 
complete the Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form within the 
twelve-hour timeframe provided in regulation 45.14(a)(1).\15\ Both BSEF 
and BPEC also expressed concerns that notifying entities may make 
unintentional misstatements through the Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form if they are required to complete the Form within the 
timeframe provided in regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e).\16\ Both BSEF and 
BPEC requested the Commission consider adopting a materiality threshold 
to trigger the requirement to answer some or all questions included in 
the Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form.\17\
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    \14\ BSEF at 4-5.
    \15\ BPEC at 2.
    \16\ BSEF at 4; BPEC at 3.
    \17\ BSEF at 5; BPEC at 3.
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    Third, BPEC commented on certain of the questions included in the 
Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form. Specifically, BPEC stated 
that questions 3, 7, and 10 through 14 should be removed from the Swap 
Data Error Correction Notification Form, or applied only after a 
materiality threshold is met or after a longer time-frame.
    The Commission has determined to retain the burden hour estimates 
described in the 60-Day Notice for the reasons described below. The 
Swap Data Error Notification Form specifies the form and manner for 
reporting in compliance with Commission regulations but does not impose 
new information collection obligations not already mandated by 
regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e).
    First, the introduction of the Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form to implement regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e) does not 
impose new requirements on SEFs. With respect to BSEF's statements that 
SEFs should be permitted to submit Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Forms through the CFTC Portal, many market participants do 
not have access to the CFTC Portal. Rather than receiving error 
notifications in a variety of formats, staff published the Swap Data 
Error Notification Form to ensure notifications are submitted in a 
uniform format and manner. BSEF also expressed concern that SEFs may be 
unable to submit the required notifications because they generally lack 
access to open swaps reports. BSEF's concern appears to be based not on 
any aspect of the Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form that is 
the subject of this notice, but rather on statements in CFTC Letter 22-
06 that encourage general compliance with pre-existing error correction 
requirements.\18\ Neither CFTC Letter 22-06 nor the Swap Data Error 
Correction Notification Form establish any independent requirement that 
a market participant review open swaps that differs from existing 
requirements in CFTC regulations. Finally, the Commission takes under 
advisement BSEF's prediction that, for a SEF, there could be multiple 
reports triggered per year. The frequency of reporting was previously 
subject to comment in 2019,\19\ and the revisions to the information 
collection at issue in the notice of June 24, 2022 \20\ do not alter 
that aspect of the Commission's burden estimates. Nonetheless, the 
Commission will continue to review reporting volumes and may revise its 
burden estimates if necessary following implementation of the new Form.
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    \18\ See CFTC Letter 22-06, at 3 n.11. BSEF also encouraged the 
Commission to amend the Swap Data Error Notification Form to account 
for the fact that SEFs do not have access to open swap information. 
BSEF at 2-4. Because the Swap Data Error Notification Form does not 
refer to open swaps, however, it is unclear what amendment would be 
necessary to address BSEF's concern.
    \19\ See 85 FR 75633-75634. Moreover, the commenter's prediction 
that a particular SEF or SEFs may submit multiple Swap Data Error 
Correction Notification Forms in a single year is not inconsistent 
with the Commission's burden estimates. As the Commission previously 
noted, its burden estimate is based on analysis of the average 
number of error notifications per SEF, DCM, and reporting 
counterparty. See id. (stating that the Commission's estimate that 
each SEF, DCM, and reporting party will, on average, need to provide 
notice to the Commission once per year is based on analysis showing 
that ``currently, [the Commission] receives significantly less than 
one notice and initial assessment of reporting errors and omissions 
per SEF, DCM, or reporting counterparty per year. . . .'').
    \20\ Notice of Intent to Revise Collection 3038-0096 (Swap Data 
Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements) and Collection 3038-0070 
(Real-Time Public Reporting), 87 FR 37839 (June 24, 2022).
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    Second, the introduction of the Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form does not alter the timelines for reporting and 
correcting errors established by regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e). With 
respect to BSEF's statements regarding initial remediation plans,\21\ 
the requirement that a notifying entity submit an initial remediation 
plan for correcting the error or errors, if an initial remediation plan 
exists, is established in regulations 45.14(a)(1)(ii) and 
43.3(e)(1)(ii).\22\ The Swap Data Error Correction Notification Form 
does not add to or alter any burden imposed by that requirement. 
Although BSEF and BPEC expressed concern about the timeline for 
required filings, the 12-hour period for filing error correction 
notices was adopted in regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e). When adopting the 
12-hour reporting period, the Commission considered comments on the 
timeline for correcting errors and notifying the Commission, and 
extended the period to correct errors specifically ``to provide the 
entity making the correction a more accurate understanding of the scope 
of the error.'' \23\ Similarly, BSEF and BPEC's statements with respect 
to a materiality threshold do not relate to the Swap Data Error 
Correction Notification Form, but rather to requirements established 
under regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e). The Commission previously 
considered comments on a materiality threshold and declined to adopt 
such a threshold.\24\
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    \21\ BSEF Comment at 4-5.
    \22\ 17 CFR 45.14(a)(1)(ii); 17 CFR 43.3(e)(1)(ii).
    \23\ 85 FR 75629.
    \24\ See Final Rule, Certain Swap Data Repository and Data 
Reporting Requirements, 85 FR 75601, 75628-629 (Nov. 25, 2020) 
(``The Commission similarly declines to accept recommendations to 
limit the scope of the error correction rules by adopting a 
materiality requirement. . . .'').
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    Third, the questions included in the Swap Data Error Correction 
Notification Form do not impose information collection obligations not 
previously required by regulations 45.14 and 43.3(e). With respect to 
questions 3 and 7, which seek unique swap identifiers or unique 
transaction identifiers representative of the error and information 
concerning the volume of swaps affected by the error, BPEC states that 
it will be difficult to provide this information within twelve hours of 
determining it will be unable to timely correct an error or errors.\25\ 
However, in order for a notifying entity to determine it will be unable 
to timely correct an error, it must possess some information concerning 
the scope of that error. The

[[Page 60385]]

identification of representative affected swaps and the number of those 
swaps is necessary to specify the scope of an error or errors. 
Questions 10 through 14 seek a brief narrative description of the 
error; clarification whether the underlying issues are producing new 
errors; any initial or other remediation plan or, if none exists, an 
estimated date for an initial or other remediation plan; an indication 
whether the notifying entity has reviewed its swap reporting processes 
to identifying other potential reporting issues similar to that 
underlying the errors; and clarification whether the error impacted the 
notifying entity's reporting obligations under part 45, part 43, or 
both parts 45 and 43. BPEC states that because responding to these 
questions could raise compliance implications independent of the 
underlying swap data error, a reporting counterparty will be unable to 
complete questions 10 through 14 without legal review, senior level 
review, and IT support.\26\ However, this information concerning the 
scope of the error or errors is necessary for staff to assess the 
impact of the error or errors, including the extent to which erroneous 
swap data has been disseminated to the public.
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    \25\ BPEC at 3.
    \26\ BPEC Comment at 2-3.
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    Burden Statement: The Commission estimates that the respondent 
burden for these collections is as follows:
     Collection 3038-0070 (Real-Time Reporting).
    Respondents/Affected Entities: SEFs, DCMs, and reporting 
counterparties.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,742.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 6.\27\
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    \27\ The Commission estimates that each SEF, DCM, and reporting 
counterparty will, on average, need to provide notice to the 
Commission under regulation 43.3(e) once per year and that each 
instance will require 6 burden hours.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 10,452.
    Frequency of Collection: As needed.
    The Commission does not anticipate any capital costs or annual 
operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection.
     Collection 3038-0096 (Swap Data Recordkeeping and 
Reporting Requirements).
    Respondents/Affected Entities: SEFs, DCMs, and reporting 
counterparties.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1,742.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 6.\28\
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    \28\ The Commission estimates that each SEF, DCM, and reporting 
counterparty will, on average, need to provide notice to the 
Commission under regulation 45.14(a) once per year and that each 
instance will require 6 burden hours.
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    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 10,452.
    Frequency of Collection: As needed.
    The Commission does not anticipate any capital costs or annual 
operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection.

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

    Dated: September 29, 2022.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2022-21545 Filed 10-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P