[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 83 (Monday, April 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33315-33317]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09149]


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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-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial 
Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and 
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 June 28, 2024.

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 0608-0062 in the subject line of 
your comments. Do not submit Confidential Business Information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information.

[[Page 33316]]


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 Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions between 
U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons (Form BE-180) is 
a periodic survey, conducted every five years for reporting years 
ending in ``4'' and ``9'', that collects data from U.S. persons who 
engage in international trade in covered financial services 
transactions. This mandatory benchmark survey, conducted under the 
authority of the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey 
Act, and section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 
1988, covers the universe of transactions in financial services with 
foreign persons and is BEA's most comprehensive survey of such 
transactions. The survey was last conducted in 2020, covering the 2019 
reporting year. A response is required from U.S. persons subject to the 
reporting requirements of the BE-180, whether or not they are contacted 
by BEA, to ensure complete coverage of transactions in financial 
services between U.S. and foreign persons. 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 transactions with foreign persons in the categories covered by 
the survey during the 2024 calendar year. For U.S. persons that had 
combined transactions that were $3 million or less in the financial 
services categories covered by the survey for fiscal year 2024, a 
completed benchmark would include totals for each type of transaction 
in which they engaged. A U.S. person whose combined transactions with 
foreign persons exceeded $3 million in the financial services 
categories covered by the survey for fiscal year 2024, is required to 
provide data on the total transactions of each of the covered types of 
financial services transactions and must disaggregate the totals by 
country and by relationship to the foreign counterparty (foreign 
affiliate, foreign parent group, or unaffiliated).
    The data are needed to monitor U.S. trade in financial 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 financial 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 to make 
modifications to the survey for 2024 to further align BEA's statistics 
with international guidelines and to collect additional information 
that can be used to improve the current estimation methodologies for 
published financial services transactions, increasing the quality and 
usefulness of BEA's statistics on trade in financial services. To 
evaluate the feasibility of these changes, BEA conducted outreach to a 
sample of nine respondents to the Quarterly Survey of Financial 
Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services Providers and 
Foreign Persons (BE-185). Reporter feedback gathered substantiated the 
ability of the respondents to comply with the additional data requests, 
and that the survey changes should not impose a material increase in 
reporting burden.
    BEA does not plan to change the exemption levels used for the 
previous benchmark survey for 2019.
    BEA proposes to:
    (1) Add a question on employment size class. This information would 
be required of all survey respondents to aid in identifying the number 
of small businesses reporting on the survey, and the volume of services 
trade data reported by small businesses. These questions will help 
BEA's broader effort to develop statistics to better track the economic 
health and contributions on the nation's small businesses.
    (2) Add a question to collect information on the largest states, 
districts, or territories (up to three) for exports and imports of 
services. This information would be required of all survey respondents 
and will contribute to BEA's effort to produce estimates of the value 
of exports and imports of services by U.S. state for the first time.
    (3) Modify the remote services schedules (C and D) to better 
capture trade in digitally delivered services. This will improve BEA's 
estimates of U.S. trade in information and communications technology 
(ICT) and potentially ICT-enabled services.
    BEA will also align BE-180 transaction categories to incorporate 
two minor modifications made to the BE-185 survey beginning with 2021 
reporting: collecting brokerage services in the three separate 
categories of (1) equity, (2) debt, and (3) other; and financial 
advisory and custody services in two distinct categories for (1) 
advisory, and (2) custody services. BEA also plans to eliminate 
question 15, asking if the U.S. Reporter had cryptocurrency-related 
transactions. This item is no longer necessary for BEA's effort to 
measure financial services transactions associated with crypto 
currency.
    BEA estimates there will be no material impact on the average 
filing burden. Proposals one and two should not affect burden because 
BEA believes this data to be readily available in reporter records or 
can be provided by many respondents based on recall, without the need 
to search existing records. Additionally, proposal three is a minor 
modification to data previously collected on the 2019 BE-180 benchmark 
survey. The codes being aligned with transaction categories on the BE-
185 survey will have no material impact on burden because reporters are 
already reporting in these categories on the BE-185 survey or have data 
readily available (those companies only subject to filing in a 
benchmark year) since the requirement was aggregate reporting on the 
previous BE-180 filing.
    The language in the instructions and definitions will be reviewed 
and adjusted as necessary to clarify survey requirements.

II. Method of Collection

    BEA will contact potential respondents by mail in January of 2025 
to announce the upcoming benchmark survey. Respondents would then be 
notified in May 2025 that a completed BE-180 form is due July 31, 2025. 
Reports would be required from each U.S. person that had transactions 
in the covered financial services with foreign persons during 2024. A 
response is required from persons subject to the reporting requirements 
of the BE-180 Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons, whether 
or not they are contacted by BEA.
    BEA offers its electronic filing option, the eFile system, for use 
in reporting on Form BE-180. 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

[[Page 33317]]

be downloaded, completed, printed, and submitted via fax or mail.

III. Data

    OMB Control Number: 0608-0062.
    Form Number(s): BE-180.
    Type of Review: Regular submission.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 6,000 annually (4,500 reporting 
mandatory data and 1,500 that would file exemption claims or voluntary 
responses).
    Estimated Time per Response: 11 hours is the average for the 2,000 
respondents filing data by country and affiliation; 2 hours for the 
2,500 respondents filing data by transaction type only, and 1 hour for 
those filing an exemption claim or other response. Hours may vary 
considerably among respondents because of differences in company size 
and complexity.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 28,500.
    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) and 
Section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988.

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 Under Secretary for 
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2024-09149 Filed 4-26-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P