[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 64 (Monday, April 4, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18536-18537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7943]


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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, 44 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq. (PRA), this notice announces that the Information 
Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to 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 May 4, 2011.
    For Further Information or a Copy Contact: Susan Nathan, Senior 
Special Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission, (202) 418-5133; e-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92e1fcf3e6faf3fcd2f1f4e6f1bcf5fde4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bfccd1decbd7ded1ffdcd9cbdc91d8d0c9">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 
approval from OMB for each collection of information they collect or 
sponsor. ``Collection of information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) 
and 5 CFR 1320.3 and includes agency requests or requirements that 
members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide 
information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day 
notice in the Federal Register for each proposed collection of 
information before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. 
Accordingly, on January 11, 2011 the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission (Commission or CFTC) published such a notice in the Federal 
Register, in connection with a recently adopted interim final rule for 
reporting pre-enactment swap transactions.\1\ The comment period closed 
on March 14, 2011; one comment was received.\2\
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    \1\ The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period 
soliciting comments on this collection of information was published 
on January 11, 2011. 76 FR 1603.
    \2\ Letter dated March 14, 2011, from trade associations 
comprising the ``Not-for-Profit Electric End User Coalition'' 
(Coalition). The Coalition challenged the CFTC's estimates with 
respect to the number and diversity of affected entities. In 
response to this comment, the Commission has revised its estimates; 
these revisions are reflected in the instant notice as well as in 
the ICR forwarded to OMB.
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    OMB regulations at 5 CFR 1320, which implement provisions of the 
PRA, further require that on or before the date of submission to OMB of 
an ICR, an agency shall publish in the Federal Register a notice 
stating that OMB approval is being sought and requesting that comments 
be submitted to OMB within 30 days of the notice's publication. An 
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB 
control number. Accordingly, the Commission has submitted a request to 
OMB for approval of a collection of information for 17 CFR part 44--
Interim Final Rule for Reporting Pre-Enactment Swap Transactions. The 
Commission is requesting a 3-year term of approval for this information 
collection activity.
    Abstract: Section 729 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) \3\ required the Commission to adopt, 
within 90 days of enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, an interim final 
rule for the reporting of swap transactions entered into before July 
21, 2010 whose terms had not expired as of that date (``pre-enactment 
unexpired swaps''). Pursuant to this mandate, the CFTC adopted an 
interim final rule requiring specified parties to pre-enactment 
unexpired swap transactions to report certain information related to 
those transactions to a swap data repository (SDR) or to the Commission 
by a compliance date to be established in reporting rules required 
under Section 2(h)(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), or within 60 
days after an appropriate SDR becomes registered under Section 21 of 
the CEA and commences operations, whichever occurs first. An 
interpretative note to the rule advises that, in order to comply with 
the reporting provisions of the rule, reporting parties that may be 
required to report to an SDR or to the CFTC will need to preserve 
information related to the terms of such swaps.
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    \3\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
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    The Commission initially estimated that approximately 1,800 
entities would be affected by this rule. That number was based on the 
current estimate of the number of swap dealers (250), major swap 
participants (50) and other counterparties (1,500).\4\ Because the 
Commission has not heretofore regulated the swap market, it has not 
previously collected data to support its estimate. In its comment 
letter, the Coalition correctly observed that this estimate did not 
take into account roughly 2,900 members of the Coalition. Moreover, the 
Commission has estimated that there are roughly 30,000 non-financial 
entities engaging in swap transactions \5\ (including the Coalition 
members) which may be subject to the requirements of the interim final 
rule. Accordingly, the initial estimate of 1,800 affected entities has 
been revised to 32,000.
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    \4\ 76 FR 1603, 1604.
    \5\ See CFTC NPRM: End-User Exception to Mandatory Clearing of 
Swaps, 75 FR 80747, 80756 (Dec. 23, 2010). The Commission estimates 
that there are approximately 30,000 end users who are counterparties 
to a swap in a given year. While it is possible that the number of 
end users having pre-enactment swap transactions to report will be 
significantly lower, the 30,000 figure is the more conservative 
estimate.
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    Because the interim final rule requires only that affected entities 
maintain data in its current form, and imposes no collection, 
manipulation, compilation or reporting of the data, the Commission 
initially estimated that the hourly burden would be de minimis.\6\ The 
Coalition suggests that the burden to be measured is not the time it 
would take each affected entity to advise its employees to retain 
particular records, but would also include time spent in reviewing, 
interpreting and analyzing the CEA, the Commission's jurisdiction over 
pre-enactment unexpired swaps, and the relevance of the interim final 
rule to the particular industry. Finally, the Coalition notes that the 
burden to ``collect and retain'' records is only a first step; should 
the Commission require any manipulation, compilation or interpretation 
of the data the burden will be significantly higher. The Commission has 
considered these comments and for the following reasons has concluded 
that its estimate is not inconsistent with the burden imposed by the 
interim final rule. The rule requires merely that affected parties 
retain data related to swap transactions to the extent that and in 
whatever form they currently keep such data until such time as 
permanent rules governing data recordkeeping and reporting are proposed 
and adopted by the Commission. None of the activities cited by the 
Coalition are contemplated by the interim final rule.
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    \6\ 76 FR 1603, 1604. The estimated average hourly burden was 
estimated at .5 hours.
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    Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is 
estimated to average .5 hours per response. This

[[Page 18537]]

estimate includes the time to locate the data related to the pre-
enactment unexpired swap transaction and the time to ensure that the 
data is maintained in such form as it currently exists. The total 
annual cost burden per respondent is estimated to be $21.05. The 
Commission based its calculation on an hourly wage rate of $42.05 for a 
Programmer to maintain the data.\7\
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    \7\ In arriving at a wage rate for the hourly costs imposed, 
Commission staff used the Management & Professional Earnings in the 
Securities Industry Report, published in 2010 by the Securities 
Industry and Financial Markets Associations (2010 Report). The sage 
rate used the median salary of a Programmer as published in the 2010 
Report and divided that figure by 2000 annual working hours to 
arrive at the hourly rate of $42.05. Because the interim final rule 
requires only that existing data be maintained in its current form, 
a programmer will be able to perform this task.
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    Respondents/Affected Entities: Swap dealers, Major Swap 
Participants, and other counterparties to a swap transaction (i.e., 
end-user, non-SD/non-MSP counterparties).
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 32,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 16,000 hours.
    Frequency of Collection: Once.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect 
of the information collection, including suggestions for reducing the 
burden, may be submitted directly to the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in OMB, by e-mail at 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#77383e25360402151a1e04041e18190437181a155912180759101801"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="155a5c4754666077787c66667c7a7b66557a78773b707a653b727a63">[email protected]</span></a>. Please provide the Commission with a copy 
of all submitted comments at the address listed below. Please refer to 
OMB Reference No. 201101-3038-002, found on http://reginfo.gov.
    Comments may also be submitted to: Susan Nathan, Senior Special 
Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 2058; e-mail the 
Agency's Web site at http://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions 
for submitting comments through the Web site.
    Comments may also be mailed to: David Stawick, Secretary of the 
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 
Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581 or by Hand 
Delivery/Courier at the same address.
    A copy of the supporting statements for the collection of 
information discussed above may be obtained by visiting RegInfo.gov.

    Issued by the Commission, this 30th day of March 2011.
David Stawick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2011-7943 Filed 4-1-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P


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