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 Commodity Futures Trading Commission
 AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
 ACTION: Notice of 2018 schedule of fees.
 SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) charges fees to designated contract markets and registered futures associations to recover the costs incurred by the Commission in the operation of its program of oversight of self-regulatory organization rule enforcement programs, specifically National Futures Association (“NFA”), a registered futures association, and the designated contract markets. Fees collected from each self-regulatory organization are deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. The calculation of the fee amounts charged for 2018 by this notice is based upon an average of actual program costs incurred during fiscal year (FY) 2015, FY 2016, and FY 2017.
 DATES: Each self-regulatory organization is required to remit electronically the applicable fee on or before February 11, 2019.
 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony C. Thompson, Executive Director, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; (202) 418-5697; Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581. For information on electronic payment, contact Jennifer Fleming; (202) 418-5034; Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  I. Background Information A. General This notice relates to fees for the Commission's review of the rule enforcement programs at the registered futures associations [1]
                    
                     and designated contract markets (“DCM”), each of which is a self-regulatory organization (“SRO”) regulated by the Commission. The Commission recalculates the fees charged each year to cover the costs of operating this Commission program.[2]
                    
                     The fees are set each year based on direct program costs, plus an overhead factor. The Commission calculates actual costs, then calculates an alternate fee taking volume into account, and then charges the lower of the two.[3] B. Overhead Rate The fees charged by the Commission to the SROs are designed to recover program costs, including direct labor costs and overhead. The overhead rate is calculated by dividing total Commission-wide overhead direct program labor costs into the total amount of the Commission-wide overhead pool. For this purpose, direct program labor costs are the salary costs of personnel working in all Commission programs. Overhead costs generally consist of the following Commission-wide costs: Indirect personnel costs (leave and benefits), rent, communications, contract services, utilities, equipment, and supplies. This formula has resulted in the following overhead rates for the most recent three years (rounded to the nearest whole percent): 211 percent for FY 2015, and 190 percent for FY 2016, and 175 precent for FY 2017. C. Conduct of SRO Rule Enforcement Reviews Under the formula adopted by the Commission in 1993, the Commission calculates the fee to recover the costs of its rule enforcement reviews and examinations, based on the three-year average of the actual cost of performing such reviews and examinations at each SRO. The cost of operation of the Commission's SRO oversight program varies from SRO to SRO, according to the size and complexity of each SRO's program. The three-year averaging computation method is intended to smooth out year-to-year variations in cost. Timing of the Commission's reviews and examinations may affect costs—a review or examination may span two fiscal years and reviews and examinations are not conducted at each SRO each year. As noted above, adjustments to actual costs may be made to relieve the burden on an SRO with a disproportionately large share of program costs. The Commission's formula provides for a reduction in the assessed fee if an SRO has a smaller percentage of United States industry contract volume than its percentage of overall Commission oversight program costs. This adjustment reduces the costs so that, as a percentage of total Commission SRO oversight program costs, they are in line 
                    ( print page 64117)
                    with the pro rata percentage for that SRO of United States industry-wide contract volume. The calculation is made as follows: The fee required to be paid to the Commission by each DCM is equal to the lesser of actual costs based on the three-year historical average of costs for that DCM or one-half of average costs incurred by the Commission for each DCM for the most recent three years, plus a pro rata share (based on average trading volume for the most recent three years) of the aggregate of average annual costs of all DCMs for the most recent three years. The formula for calculating the second factor is: 0.5a + 0.5 vt = current fee. In this formula, “a” equals the average annual costs, “v” equals the percentage of total volume across DCMs over the last three years, and “t” equals the average annual costs for all DCMs. NFA has no contracts traded; hence, its fee is based simply on costs for the most recent three fiscal years. This table summarizes the data used in the calculations of the resulting fee for each entity: Table 1—Summary of Data Used in Fee Calculations
Actual total costs
FY 2015
FY 2016
FY 2017
3-Year
                             average 
                             actual costs
3-Year
                             average 
                             volume 
                             (%)
Adjusted
                             volume costs
2017
                             Actual fee
2018
                             Assessed feeCBOE Futures
$158,209
$227,059
$31,765
$139,011
1.44
$79,398
$71,004
$79,398Chicago Board of Trade
17,938
28,720
98,737
48,465
30.14
231,283
34,058
48,465Chicago Mercantile Exchange
540,151
372,278
483,391
465,273
44.34
537,235
379,377
465,273ICE Futures U.S.
105,864
386,719
203,826
232,136
8.68
175,696
143,431
175,696Minneapolis Grain Exchange
147,983
14,314
43,230
68,509
0.06
34,667
35,250
34,667NADEX North American

81,758
86,680
56,146
0.18
29,309
14,516
29,309New York Mercantile Exchange
118,701
242,792
217,861
193,118
14.25
194,451
172,990
193,118OneChicago, LLC
289
282
37,311
12,627
0.31
8,443
6,798
8,443NASDAQ


257,177
85,726
0.58
46,847

46,847ERIS Exchange


54,272
18,091
0.01
9,136

9,136CANTOR


61,474
20,491

10,246

10,246NODAL


102,993
34,331

17,166

17,166Subtotal
1,089,134
1,353,921
1,678,716
1,373,924
100
1,373,877
857,423
1,117,763National Futures Association
401,337
282,405
676,430
453,390


325,281
453,390Total
1,490,471
1,636,326
2,355,145
1,827,314


$1,182,704
1,571,154**Note to Table 1:**
                         The 2018 Fee is the Lessor of the 3-year Average Actual cost or the Adjusted Volume Cost
 An example of how the fee is calculated for one exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, is set forth here: a. Actual three-year average costs = $48,465. b. The alternative computation is: (.5) ($48,465) + (.5) (.3014) ($1,373,924) = $231,283. c. The fee is the lesser of a or b; in this case $48,465. As noted above, the alternative calculation based on contracts traded is not applicable to NFA because it is not a DCM and has no contracts traded. The Commission's average annual cost for conducting oversight review of the NFA rule enforcement program during fiscal years 2015 through 2017 was $453,390. The fee to be paid by the NFA for the current fiscal year is $453,390. II. Schedule of Fees Fees for the Commission's review of the rule enforcement programs at the registered futures associations and DCMs regulated by the Commission are as follows: Table 2—Schedule of Fees
3-Year
                             average 
                             actual costs
3-Year
                             average 
                             volume 
                             %
Adjusted
                             volume 
                             costs
2018
                             Assessed 
                             feeCBOE Futures
$139,011
1.44
$79,398
$79,398Chicago Board of Trade
48,465
30.14
231,283
48,465Chicago Mercantile Exchange
465,273
44.34
537,235
465,273ICE Futures U.S.
232,136
8.68
175,696
175,696Minneapolis Grain Exchange
68,509
0.06
34,667
34,667NADEX North American
56,146
0.18
29,309
29,309New York Mercantile Exchange
193,118
14.25
194,451
193,118OneChicago, LLC
12,627
0.31
8,443
8,443NASDAQ
85,726
0.58
46,847
46,847ERIS Exchange
18,091
0.01
9,136
9,136CANTOR
20,491

10,246
10,246NODAL
34,331

17,166
17,166Subtotal
1,373,924
100
1,373,877
1,117,763National Futures Association
453,390


453,390Total
1,827,314


1,571,154
 
 
 III. Payment Method The Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) requires deposits of fees owed to the government by electronic transfer of funds. 
                    *See*31 U.S.C. 3720. For information about electronic payments, please contact Jennifer Fleming at (202) 418-5034 or 
                    *jfleming@cftc.gov,*
                     or see the CFTC website at 
                    *http://www.cftc.gov,*
                     specifically, 
                    *www.cftc.gov/​cftc/​cftcelectronicpayments.htm.* Fees collected from each self-regulatory organization shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. 
                    *See*7 U.S.C 16a. Issued in Washington, DC, on December 10, 2018, by the Commission. Robert Sidman, Deputy Secretary of the Commission.


# Footnotes

1.
    
                         National Futures Association is the only registered futures association. Back to Citation
 2.
    
                         
                        *See*
                         Section 237 of the Futures Trading Act of 1982, 7 U.S.C. 16a, and 31 U.S.C. 9701. For a broader discussion of the history of Commission fees, see 52 FR 46070, Dec. 4, 1987. Back to Citation
 3.
    
                         58 FR 42643, Aug. 11, 1993, and 17 CFR part 1, appendix B Back to Citation


[FR Doc. 2018-27042 Filed 12-12-18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6351-01-P