[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 164 (Friday, August 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58251-58252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18364]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Intent To 
Renew Collection 3038-0092, Customer Clearing Documentation and Timing 
of Acceptance for Clearing

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or 
``Commission'') is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed renewal of a collection of certain information by the agency. 
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (``PRA''), Federal agencies 
are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each 
proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension 
of an existing collection of information, and to allow 60 days for 
public comment. This notice solicits comments on the extension of 
information collection requirements relating to the obligation to 
maintain clearing documentation records between the customer and the 
customer's clearing member under the Commodity Exchange Act, OMB 
Control No. 3038-0092 (Customer Clearing Documentation and Timing of 
Acceptance for Clearing).

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before October 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by ``Customer Clearing 
Documentation and Timing of Acceptance for Clearing,'' Collection 
Number 3038-0092, by any of the following methods:
     CFTC website: https://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 https://www.cftc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Catherine Brescia, Attorney Advisor, 
Market Participants Division, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 
(202) 418-6236; email: [email protected], and refer to OMB Control No. 
3038-0092.

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(c) and includes agency requests or requirements that 
members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide 
information to a third party. PRA section 3506(c)(2)(A) (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, including each proposed extension of an existing 
collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for 
approval. To comply with this requirement, the Commission is publishing 
notice of the proposed collection 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 control number.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 44 U.S.C. 3512, 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 1320.8 (b)(3)(vi).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 58252]]

    Title: Customer Clearing Documentation and Timing of Acceptance for 
Clearing (OMB Control No. 3038-0092). This is a request for extension 
of a currently approved information collection.
    Abstract: Section 4d(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') (7 
U.S.C. 6d(c)), as amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Reform 
Consumer Protection Act (``Dodd-Frank Act''), directs the Commission to 
require futures commission merchants (``FCMs'') to implement conflict 
of interest procedures that address such issues the Commission 
determines to be appropriate. Similarly, CEA section 4s(j)(5) (7 U.S.C. 
6s(j)(5)), as added by the Dodd-Frank Act, requires swap dealers 
(``SDs'') and major swap participants (``MSPs'') to implement conflict 
of interest procedures that address such issues the Commission 
determines to be appropriate. CEA section 4s(j)(5) also requires SDs 
and MSPs to ensure that any persons providing clearing activities or 
making determinations as to accepting clearing customers are separated 
by appropriate informational partitions from persons whose involvement 
in pricing, trading, or clearing activities might bias their judgment 
or contravene the core principle of open access. CEA section 4s(j)(6) 
prohibits an SD or MSP from adopting any process or taking any action 
that results in any unreasonable restraint on trade or imposes any 
material anticompetitive burden on trading or clearing, unless 
necessary or appropriate to achieve the purposes of the Act. CEA 
section 2(h)(1)(B)(ii) (7 U.S.C. 2(h)(1)(B)(ii)) requires that 
derivatives clearing organization (``DCO'') rules provide for the 
nondiscriminatory clearing of swaps executed bilaterally or through an 
unaffiliated designated contract market or swap execution facility.
    To address these provisions, the Commission promulgated regulations 
that prohibit arrangements involving FCMs, SDs, MSPs, and DCOs that 
would (a) disclose to an FCM, SD, or MSP the identity of a customer's 
original executing counterparty; \2\ (b) limit the number of 
counterparties with whom a customer may enter into a trade; \3\ (c) 
restrict the size of the position a customer may take with any 
individual counterparty, apart from an overall credit limit for all 
positions held by the customer at the FCM; \4\ (d) impair a customer's 
access to execution of a trade on terms that have a reasonable 
relationship to the best terms available; \5\ or (e) prevent compliance 
with specified time frames for acceptance of trades into clearing set 
forth in Commission regulations Sec. Sec.  1.74(b), 23.610(b), or 
39.12(b)(7).\6\ Additionally, the Commission requires, through 
regulation Sec.  39.12(b)(7)(i)(B), DCOs to coordinate with clearing 
members to establish prompt processing of trades. Regulations 
Sec. Sec.  1.74(a) and 23.610(a) require reciprocal coordination by 
FCMs, SDs, and MSPs that are clearing members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ 17 CFR 1.72(a), 23.608(a), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi).
    \3\ 17 CFR 1.72(b), 23.608(b), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi).
    \4\ 17 CFR 1.72(c), 23.608(c), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi).
    \5\ 17 CFR 1.72(d), 23.608(d), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi).
    \6\ 17 CFR 1.72(e), 23.608(e), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Under the above regulations, SDs, MSPs, FCMs, and DCOs are required 
to develop and maintain written customer clearing documentation and 
trade processing procedures. Maintenance of contracts, policies, and 
procedures is prudent business practice. All SDs, MSPs, FCMs, and DCOs 
maintain documentation consistent with these regulations. The 
regulations are crucial both for effective risk management and for the 
efficient operation of trading venues among SDs, MSPs, FCMs, and DCOs. 
Each of these entities has a general recordkeeping obligation for these 
requirements under the Commission's regulations (17 CFR 39.20 for DCOs; 
17 CFR 23.606 for SDs and MSPs; and 17 CFR 1.73 for FCMs).
    As indicated below, the information collection burden arising from 
the regulations primarily is restricted to the costs associated with 
the affected registrants' obligation to maintain records related to 
clearing documentation between the customer and the customer's clearing 
member, and trade processing procedures between DCOs and FCMs, SDs, and 
MSPs. The information collection obligations are necessary to implement 
certain provisions of the CEA, including ensuring that registrants 
exercise effective risk management and for the efficient operation of 
trading venues among SDs, MSPs, FCMs, and DCOs.
    With respect to the collection of information, the CFTC invites 
comments on:
     Whether the proposed 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 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 use of appropriate 
automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology; e.g., permitting 
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 Sec.  145.9 of the 
Commission's regulations.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 17 CFR 145.9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 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: The respondent burden for this collection is 
estimated to be as follows:
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 180.
    Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 40.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours per Respondent: 7,200.
    Frequency of Collection: As needed.
    There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs 
associated with this collection.

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

    Dated: August 22, 2023.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023-18364 Filed 8-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P