Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 17, 2010 / Proposed Rules 70159 

result of an adverse, negative, or 

otherwise unfavorable research report or 

public appearance written or made, in 

good faith, by the research analyst that 

may adversely affect the futures 

commission merchant’s or introducing 

broker’s present or prospective trading 

or clearing activities. 

(d) Clearing activities. 

(1) No futures commission merchant 

shall permit any affiliated swap dealer 

or major swap participant to directly or 

indirectly interfere with, or attempt to 

influence, the decision of the clearing 

unit personnel of the futures 

commission merchant with regard to the 

provision of clearing services and 

activities, including but not limited to: 

(i) Whether to offer clearing services 

and activities to customers; 

(ii) Whether to accept a particular 

customer for the purposes of clearing 

derivatives; 

(iii) Whether to submit a transaction 

to a particular derivatives clearing 

organization; 

(iv) Setting risk tolerance levels for 

particular customers; 

(v) Determining acceptable forms of 

collateral from particular customers; or 

(vi) Setting fees for clearing services. 

(2) Each futures commission merchant 

shall create and maintain an appropriate 

informational partition between 

business trading units of an affiliated 

swap dealer or major swap participant 

and clearing unit personnel of the 

futures commission merchant. At a 

minimum, such informational partitions 

shall require that: 

(i) No employee of a business trading 

unit of an affiliated swap dealer or 

major swap participant may review or 

approve the provision of clearing 

services and activities by clearing unit 

personnel of the futures commission 

merchant, make any determination 

regarding whether the futures 

commission merchant accepts clearing 

customers, or participate in any way 

with the provision of clearing services 

and activities by the futures commission 

merchant; 

(ii) No employee of a business trading 

unit of an affiliated swap dealer or 

major swap participant shall supervise, 

control, or influence any employee of a 

clearing unit of the futures commission 

merchant; and 

(iii) No employee of the business 

trading unit of an affiliated swap dealer 

or major swap participant shall 

influence or control compensation or 

evaluation of any employee of the 

clearing unit of the futures commission 

merchant. 

(e) Undue Influence on Customers. 

Each futures commission merchant and 

introducing broker must adopt and 

implement written policies and 

procedures that mandate the disclosure 

to its customers of any material 

incentives and any material conflicts of 

interest regarding the decision of a 

customer as to the trade execution and/ 

or clearing of the derivatives 

transaction. 

(f) All records that a futures 

commission merchant or introducing 

broker is required to maintain pursuant 

to this regulation shall be maintained in 

accordance with Commission 

Regulation § 1.31 and shall be made 

available promptly upon request to 

representatives of the Commission. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

10, 2010, by the Commission. 

David A. Stawick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

Statement of Chairman Gary Gensler 

Implementation of Conflicts of Interest 

Policies and Procedures by Futures 

Commission Merchants and Introducing 

Brokers 

I support the proposed rulemakings 

that establish firewalls to ensure a 

separation between the research arm, 

the trading arm and the clearing 

activities of swap dealers, major swap 

participants, futures commission 

merchants and introducing brokers. 

This rule proposal relates to the 

conflicts-of-interest provisions of the 

Dodd-Frank Act that direct swap dealers 

and major swap participants to have 

appropriate informational partitions. 

The proposal builds upon similar 

protections in the securities markets as 

mandated in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 

The proposed rules will protect market 

participants and the public while also 

promoting the financial integrity of the 

marketplace. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29003 Filed 11–16–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

Internal Revenue Service 

26 CFR Part 54 

[REG–118412–10] 

RIN 1545–BJ50 

Group Health Plans and Health 

Insurance Coverage Rules Relating to 

Status as a Grandfathered Health Plan 

Under the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act 

AGENCY: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 

Treasury. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking 

by cross-reference to temporary 

regulations. 

SUMMARY: In the Rules and Regulations 

section of this issue in the Federal 

Register, the IRS is issuing temporary 

regulations regarding status as a 

grandfathered health plan under the 

provisions of the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care 

Act) in connection with changes in 

policies, certificates, or contracts of 

insurance. The temporary regulations 

provide guidance to employers, group 

health plans, and health insurance 

issuers providing group health 

insurance coverage. The IRS is issuing 

the temporary regulations at the same 

time that the Employee Benefits 

Security Administration of the U.S. 

Department of Labor and the Office of 

Consumer Information and Insurance 

Oversight of the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services are issuing 

substantially similar interim final 

regulations with respect to group health 

plans and health insurance coverage 

offered in connection with a group 

health plan under the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 

and the Public Health Service Act. The 

text of the temporary regulations being 

issued by the IRS serves as the text of 

these proposed regulations. 

DATES: Written or electronic comments 

and requests for a public hearing must 

be received by December 17, 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send submissions to: 

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG–118412–10), room 

5205, Internal Revenue Service, PO Box 

7604, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, 

DC 20044. Submissions may be handdelivered to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG– 

118412–10), Courier’s Desk, Internal 

Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20224. 

Alternatively, taxpayers may submit 

comments electronically via the Federal 

eRulemaking Portal at http:// 

www.regulations.gov (IRS REG–118412– 

10). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Concerning the regulations, Karen Levin 

at 202–622–6080; concerning 

submissions of comments or to request 

a hearing, Regina Johnson at 202–622– 

7180 (not toll-free numbers). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The temporary regulations published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register amend § 54.9815–1251T of the 

Miscellaneous Excise Tax Regulations. 

The proposed and temporary 

regulations are being published as part 

of a joint rulemaking with the 


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70160 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 221 / Wednesday, November 17, 2010 / Proposed Rules 

Department of Labor and the 

Department of Health and Human 

Services (the joint rulemaking). The text 

of those temporary regulations also 

serves as the text of these proposed 

regulations. The preamble to the 

temporary regulations explains the 

temporary regulations and these 

proposed regulations. 

Special Analyses 

It has been determined that this notice 

of proposed rulemaking is not a 

significant regulatory action as defined 

in Executive Order 12866. Therefore, a 

regulatory assessment is not required. It 

has also been determined that section 

553(b) of the Administrative Procedure 

Act (5 U.S.C. chapter 5) does not apply 

to this proposed regulation. It is hereby 

certified that the collection of 

information contained in this notice of 

proposed rulemaking will not have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. Accordingly, a 

regulatory flexibility analysis is not 

required. 

The amendment to the temporary 

regulations adds a new third-party 

disclosure requirement so that it also 

applies to a group health plan that is 

changing health insurance coverage. 

The group health plan must provide to 

a succeeding or new health insurance 

issuer (and the succeeding or new 

health insurance issuer must require) 

documentation of plan terms (including 

benefits, cost sharing, employer 

contributions, and annual limits) under 

the prior health insurance coverage 

sufficient to make a determination 

whether a change described in 

§ 54.9815–1251T(g)(1) has occurred. The 

hour and cost burden associated with 

this requirement is de minimis, because 

group health plans can satisfy the 

requirement by providing a copy of the 

policy or summary plan description to 

the succeeding or new health insurance 

issuer. This is not a significant burden 

for any plan and thus will not have a 

significant impact on a substantial 

number of small entities. 

For further information and for 

analyses relating to the joint 

rulemaking, see the preamble to the 

joint rulemaking. Pursuant to section 

7805(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, 

this regulation has been submitted to 

the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the 

Small Business Administration for 

comment on its impact on small 

business. 

Comments and Requests for a Public 

Hearing 

Before these proposed regulations are 

adopted as final regulations, 

consideration will be given to any 

written comments (a signed original and 

eight (8) copies) or electronic comments 

that are submitted timely to the IRS. 

Comments are specifically requested on 

this amendment to the proposed 

regulations, including the prospective 

effective date of the rule and how that 

affects plans with different plan years. 

All comments will be available for 

public inspection and copying. A public 

hearing may be scheduled if requested 

in writing by a person that timely 

submits written comments. If a public 

hearing is scheduled, notice of the date, 

time, and place for the hearing will be 

published in the Federal Register. 

Drafting Information 

The principal author of these 

proposed regulations is Karen Levin, 

Office of the Division Counsel/Associate 

Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and 

Government Entities), IRS. The 

proposed regulations, as well as the 

temporary regulations, have been 

developed in coordination with 

personnel from the U.S. Department of 

Labor and the U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services. 

List of Subjects in 26 CFR Part 54 

Excise taxes, Health care, Health 

insurance, Pensions, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Proposed Amendments to the 

Regulations 

Accordingly, 26 CFR part 54 is 

proposed to be amended as follows: 

PART 54—PENSION EXCISE TAXES 

Paragraph 1. The authority citation 

for part 54 continues to read in part as 

follows: 

Authority: 26 U.S.C. 7805 * * * 

Par. 2. Section 54.9815–1251 as 

published on June 17, 2010, at 75 FR 

34571, is amended by revising 

paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(3)(ii), (f), and (g)(4) 

Example 9 to read as follows: 

§ 54.9815–1251 Preservation of right to 

maintain existing coverage. 

(a) * * * (1) [The text of proposed 

§ 54.9815–1251(a)(1) is the same as the 

text of § 54.9815–1251T(a)(1) published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register]. 

* * * * * 

(3) * * * 

(ii) [The text of proposed § 54.9815– 

1251(a)(3)(ii) is the same as the text of 

§ 54.9815–1251T(a)(3)(ii) published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register]. 

* * * * * 

(f) [The text of proposed § 54.9815– 

1251(f) is the same as the text of 

§ 54.9815–1251T(f) published elsewhere 

in this issue of the Federal Register]. 

(g) * * * 

(4) * * * 

Example 9. [The text of proposed 

§ 54.9815–1251(g)(4) Example 9 is the 

same as the text of § 54.9815– 

1251T(g)(4) Example 9 published 

elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 

Register]. 

Steven T. Miller, 

Deputy Commissioner for Services and 

Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2010–28866 Filed 11–15–10; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Office of the Secretary 

45 CFR Part 147 

[Docket No. OCIIO–9986–NC] 

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR 

Employee Benefits Security 

Administration 

29 CFR Part 2590 

Affordable Care Act; Federal External 

Review Process; Request for 

Information 

AGENCY: Office of Consumer Information 

and Insurance Oversight, Department of 

Health and Human Services; Employee 

Benefits Security Administration, 

Department of Labor. 

ACTION: Notice; request for information. 

SUMMARY: This notice is a request for 

information (RFI) to gain market 

analysis information in advance of one 

or more future Requests for Proposals 

(RFP). On July 23, 2010, the 

Departments of Health and Human 

Services, Labor, and the Treasury 

published interim final regulations 

regarding, among other things, 

procedures for external review of health 

plan denials. The regulations include a 

provision for a Federal external review 

process in instances where there is no 

applicable State process. This RFI 

solicits information that will enable the 

Departments of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) and Labor (DOL) to 

conduct a market analysis and assist the 

Departments in planning and 

developing the Federal external review 

process. HHS and/or DOL may contract 

for services required to fulfill the 

statutory and regulatory requirements of 

the Federal external review process 

established under section 2719 of the 


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