[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 217 (Monday, November 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77562-77563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24875]


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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 December 13, 2023.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    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''), as 
amended by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 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 as the Commission determines to be 
appropriate. Similarly, section 4s(j)(5) of the CEA, as added by the 
Dodd-Frank Act, requires swap dealers (``SDs'') and major swap 
participants (``MSPs'') to

[[Page 77563]]

implement conflict of interest procedures that address such issues as 
the Commission determines to be appropriate. 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. 
Section 4s(j)(6) of the CEA prohibits a 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. Section 2(h)(1)(B)(ii) of the CEA 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 (Sec. Sec.  1.72(a), 23.608(a), and 
39.12(a)(1)(vi)); (b) limit the number of counterparties with whom a 
customer may enter into a trade (Sec. Sec.  1.72(b), 23.608(b), and 
39.12(a)(1)(vi)); (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 (Sec. Sec.  
1.72(c), 23.608(c), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi)); (d) impair a customer's 
access to execution of a trade on terms that have a reasonable 
relationship to the best terms available (Sec. Sec.  1.72(d), 
23.608(d), and 39.12(a)(1)(vi)); or (e) prevent compliance with 
specified time frames for acceptance of trades into clearing set forth 
in 1.74(b), 23.610(b), or 39.12(b)(7) (Sec. Sec.  1.72(e), 23.608(e), 
and 39.12(a)(1)(vi)). Additionally, the Commission requires, through 
regulation 39.12(b)(7)(i)(B), DCOs to coordinate with clearing members 
to establish prompt processing of trades. Regulations 1.74(a) and 
23.610(a) require reciprocal coordination by FCMs, SDs, and MSPs that 
are clearing members.
    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 (Sec.  39.20 for DCOs; 
Sec.  23.606 for SDs and MSPs; and Sec.  1.73 for FCMs).
    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 are also appropriate for the 
efficient operation of trading venues among SDs, MSPs, FCMs, and DCOs.
    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.\2\ On August 25, 2023, 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, 88 FR 58251 (``60-Day 
Notice''). The Commission did not receive any comments on the 60-Day 
Notice.
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    \2\ 44 U.S.C. 3512, 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 1320.8 (b)(3)(vi).
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    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: 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: November 6, 2023.
Robert Sidman,
Deputy Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2023-24875 Filed 11-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P