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[Federal Register: April 20, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 75)]
[Notices]               
[Page 20568-20570]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20ap10-40]                         

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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

 
Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

[[Page 20569]]

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 
et seq.), 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; it 
includes the actual data collection instruments [if any].

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before May 20, 2010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A COPY CONTACT: Andrea Musalem at CFTC, 
(202) 418-5167; FAX: (202) 418-5547; e-mail: amusalem@cftc.gov and 
refer to OMB Control No. 3038-0023.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Proposed Questionnaire to Regulation 30.10 Relief Recipients 
(OMB Control No. 3038-0023). This is a request for approval of a new 
information collection.

Abstract

I. Background

    CFTC Regulation 30.10 allows persons located and doing business 
outside the U.S., who are subject to a comparable regulatory framework 
in the country in which they are located, to seek an exemption from the 
application of certain of the Part 30 regulations. Regulation 30.10 
expressly states that, upon petition, the Commission may exempt any 
person from any requirement of the Part 30 regulations. If the 
Commission grants an exemption, persons located and doing business 
outside the U.S. may solicit or accept orders directly from U.S. 
customers for foreign futures or options transactions without 
registering under the Act as FCMs.
    A petition for exemption pursuant to Regulation 30.10 is typically 
filed on behalf of persons located and doing business outside the U.S. 
that seek access to U.S. customers by (1) a governmental agency 
responsible for implementing and enforcing the foreign regulatory 
program, or (2) a self-regulatory organization (SRO) of which such 
persons are members. A petitioner who seeks an exemption pursuant to 
Regulation 30.10, based on substituted compliance with a non-U.S. 
regulatory framework that is comparable to the Act and rules 
thereunder, must set forth with particularity the comparable 
regulations applicable in the jurisdiction in which that person is 
located. In essence, a petitioner under Regulation 30.10 must present, 
with particularity, the factual basis for a finding of comparability 
and the reasons why the policies and purposes of the Commission's 
regulatory program are met, notwithstanding any differences of degree 
or kind in the petitioner's regulatory program.
    Appendix A to Part 30 (Appendix A) articulates standards to be used 
by staff in assessing whether a foreign regulatory system is 
comparable.\1\ These standards involve inquiry into the following 
areas: (1) Registration, authorization or other form of licensing, 
fitness review or qualification of persons through which customer 
orders are solicited and accepted; (2) minimum financial requirements 
for those persons that accept customer funds; (3) protection of 
customer funds from misapplication; (4) recordkeeping and reporting 
requirements; (5) minimum sales practice standards, including 
disclosure of the risks of futures and options transactions and, in 
particular, the risk of transactions undertaken outside the 
jurisdiction of domestic law; (6) compliance; and (7) information-
sharing.
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    \1\ ``Interpretative Statement With Respect to the Commission's 
Exemptive Authority Under Sec.  30.10 of its Rules,'' l7 CFR part 
30, Appendix A.
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II. The Proposed Questionnaire

    Currently, there are 13 foreign entities \2\ (two regulators and 11 
futures exchanges) that have a Regulation 30.10 exemption some of which 
date back to the late eighties, early nineties. Consequently, the 
Commission's Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight (DCIO) 
would like to embark upon a program whereby each year, DCIO sends out a 
questionnaire to exemption recipients inquiring as to material and 
other relevant changes that impacted our could impact the fundamentals 
for which exemptive relief was granted in the first place.
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    \2\ The 13 foreign entities are represented by the following 
jurisdictions: The United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Germany, 
Canada, France, Spain, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan.
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    The proposed 2010 Questionnaire will ask the following questions: 
The following questions relate to material changes that have occurred 
since the original filing of the 30.10 petition. Please answer the 
following questions in detail.
    1. Have there been any material changes with regards to the 
identity or organization of the original Petitioner (i.e. change in 
control, change in name, change in structure, etc.)?
    2. Has there been a change in the role of the government, the 
regulator, or the self-regulatory organization(s) which has or could 
potentially impact their supervision of and their enforcement powers 
over the exchange and its members?
    3. Has there been any material change in the legal framework which 
impacted or could impact any of the following:
    a. Registration, authorization or other form of licensing, fitness 
review or qualification of persons through which customer orders are 
solicited and accepted;
    b. Minimum financial requirements for those persons that accept 
customer funds;
    c. Protection of customer funds from misapplication;
    d. Recordkeeping and reporting requirements;
    e. Minimum sales practice standards, including disclosure of risks 
of futures and options transactions and, in particular, the risk of 
transactions undertaken outside the jurisdiction of domestic law; and
    f. Compliance (i.e. any change in oversight structure which 
impacted or could impact the governmental authority or the self-
regulatory organization's ability to audit Part 30 firms for compliance 
with, or take action against persons that violate the requirements of 
the Part 30 program).
    4. What changes, if any, have occurred in insolvency laws as they 
affect futures customers? If there have been changes to insolvency 
laws, have the changes occurred within the past two to three years? To 
what extent do you view any recently proposed changes to insolvency 
laws as resulting from the 2008-09 financial crisis?
    5. Security futures products have both an equity component and a 
futures component. Consequently, in what accounts are security futures 
products held (i.e. the equity account, the futures account, or a 
combined account)? Are security futures products subject to separate 
disclosure and margin requirements than those required for plain 
vanilla futures products?
    6. Please provide an updated list of all firms with relief under 
the Regulation 30.10 exemption.
    7. Since the granting of the original exemption, please affirm 
whether 30.10 firms have been subject to arbitration and/or 
disciplinary proceedings arising from transactions with U.S. customers. 
To the best extent possible, please provide the number of times and a 
brief description of such proceedings.
    8. Please provide the name and contact information for individuals 
to whom follow up questions might be directed.
    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

[[Page 20570]]

control number. The OMB control numbers for the CFTC's regulations were 
published on December 30, 1981. See 46 FR 63035 (Dec. 30, 1981). The 
Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting 
comments on this collection of information was published on February 
10, 2010 (75 FR 6637).
    Burden statement: The respondent burden for this collection is 
estimated to average one hour per response. These estimates include the 
time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and 
utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, 
validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining 
information and disclosing and providing information; adjust the 
existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and 
requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of 
information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
    Respondents/Affected Entities: 13.
    Estimated number of responses: 13.
    Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 169 hours.
    Frequency of collection: Annually.
    Send comments regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect of 
the information collection, including suggestions for reducing the 
burden, to the addresses listed below. Please refer to OMB Control No. 
3038-0023 in any correspondence.

Andrea Musalem, Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight, U.S. 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20581; and
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and 
Budget, Attention: Desk Officer for CFTC, 725 17th Street, Washington, 
DC 20503.

    Dated: April 14, 2010.
David Stawick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2010-9014 Filed 4-19-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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