[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 29, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44029-44031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18742]


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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 
(``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

[[Page 44030]]

ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected 
costs and burden.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before September 28, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the burden estimate 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, within 30 days of the publication 
of this notice, by either of the following methods. Please identify the 
comments by ``OMB Control No 3038-0021.''
    <bullet> By email addressed to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6926203b281a1c0b04001a1a0006071a2906040b470c0619470e061f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="56191f04172523343b3f25253f39382516393b347833392678313920">[email protected]</span></a> or
    <bullet> By mail addressed to: The Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Attention: Desk 
Officer for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 725 17th Street 
NW, Washington, DC 20503.
    A copy of all comments submitted to OIRA should be sent to the 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) by any of the 
following methods. The copies sent to the Commission also should refer 
to ``OMB Control No. 3038-0021.''
    <bullet> By mail addressed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary 
of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three 
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581;
    <bullet> By Hand Delivery/Courier to the same address; or
    <bullet> Through the Commission's website at http://comments.cftc.gov. Please follow the instructions for submitting 
comments through the website.
    A copy of the supporting statement for the collection of 
information discussed herein may be obtained by visiting http://RegInfo.gov.
    All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied 
by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to 
http://www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish 
to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider 
information that you believe is exempt from disclosure under the 
Freedom of Information Act, a petition for confidential treatment of 
the exempt information may be submitted according to the procedures 
established in Sec.  145.9 of the Commission's regulations.\1\ The 
Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to review, 
pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your 
submission from http://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to be 
inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All 
submissions that have been redacted or removed that contain comments on 
the merits of the ICR will be retained in the public comment file and 
will be considered as required under the Administrative Procedure Act 
and other applicable laws, and may be accessible under the Freedom of 
Information Act.
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    \1\ 17 CFR 145.9.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel, 
Division of Clearing and Risk, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 
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(202) 418-5926; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#503a20312224223934373510333624337e373f26"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dcb6acbdaea8aeb5b8bbb99cbfbaa8bff2bbb3aa">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Regulations Governing Bankruptcies of Commodity Brokers (OMB 
Control No. 3038-0021). This is a request for an extension of a 
currently approved information collection.\2\
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    \2\ There are two information collections now associated with 
OMB Control No. 3038-0021. The first includes the reporting, 
recordkeeping, and third party disclosure requirements applicable to 
a single respondent in a commodity broker liquidation (e.g., a 
single commodity broker or a single trustee) within the relevant 
time period that are provided for in Commission regulations 
190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), 190.02(b)(1), 190.02(b)(2),190.02(b)(4), 
190.02(c), 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2), 190.04(b) and 190.06(b). The 
second information collection includes the third party disclosure 
requirements provided for in Commission regulations 190.06(d) and 
190.10(c) which are applicable on a regular basis to multiple 
respondents (i.e., multiple futures commission merchants).
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    Abstract: This collection of information involves the reporting, 
recordkeeping, and third party disclosure requirements set forth in the 
CFTC's bankruptcy regulations for commodity broker liquidations, 17 CFR 
part 190.\3\ These regulations apply to commodity broker liquidations 
under Chapter 7, Subchapter IV of the Bankruptcy Code.\4\
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    \3\ These include the requirements contained in Commission 
regulations 190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), 190.02(b)(1), 
190.02(b)(2),190.02(b)(4), 190.02(c), 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2), 
190.04(b), 190.06(b), 190.06(d), and 190.10(c).
    \4\ 11 U.S.C. 761 et seq.
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    The reporting requirements include, for example, notices to the 
Commission regarding the filing of petitions for bankruptcy and notices 
to the Commission regarding the intention to transfer open commodity 
contracts in a commodity broker liquidation. The recordkeeping 
requirements include, for example, the statements of customer accounts 
that a trustee appointed for the purposes of a commodity broker 
liquidation (Trustee) must generate and adjust as set forth in the 
regulations. The third party disclosure requirements include, for 
example, the disclosure statement that a commodity broker must provide 
to its customers containing information regarding the manner in which 
customer property is treated under Part 190 of the Commission's 
regulations in the event of a bankruptcy and, in the event of a 
commodity broker liquidation, certain notices that a Trustee must 
provide to customers and to the persons to whom commodity contracts and 
specifically identifiable customer property have been or will be 
transferred. The information collection requirements are necessary, and 
will be used, to facilitate the effective, efficient, and fair conduct 
of liquidation proceedings for commodity brokers and to protect the 
interests of customers in these proceedings both directly and by 
facilitating the participation of the CFTC in such proceedings.
    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 number. On June 25, 2018, the Commission published 
in the Federal Register notice of the proposed extension of this 
information collection and provided 60 days for public comment on the 
proposed extension, 83 FR 29547, June 25, 2018 (``60-Day Notice''). The 
Commission did not receive any relevant comments. Accordingly, it did 
not alter the burden estimates set forth in the 60-Day Notice in 
response to comments received.\5\
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    \5\ As noted below, the Commission reduced the burden hours 
associated with the third party disclosures applicable to multiple 
respondents because the required documents are standardized and 
unchanged from the prior renewal. Accordingly, the time that the 
average respondent would spend drafting and sending the notice and 
disclosure is minimal. See infra fn.6.
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    Burden Statement: The Commission notes that commodity broker 
liquidations occur at unpredictable and irregular intervals when 
particular commodity brokers become insolvent. While a commodity broker 
liquidation has not occurred in the past three years, the Commission 
took the conservative approach of maintaining the assumption contained 
in the previous renewal of this information collection that, on 
average, a commodity broker liquidation would occur every three years. 
The Commission generally has retained the burden hour estimates set 
forth in the previous information collection as there have been no 
interim experiences that would warrant altering those estimates.\6\

[[Page 44031]]

The Commission further notes, however, that the information collection 
burden will vary in particular commodity broker liquidations depending 
on the size of the commodity broker, the extent to which accounts are 
able to be quickly transferred, and other factors specific to the 
circumstances of the liquidation.
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    \6\ The Commission has retained the burden hour estimates for 
the applicable regulations with two limited exceptions. First, the 
Commission no longer assigns burden hours to the discretionary 
notice that a Trustee may provide to customers in an involuntary 
commodity broker liquidation pursuant to Commission regulation 
190.02(b)(3). There have been no involuntary commodity broker 
liquidations and none are anticipated. Accordingly, continuing to 
assign burden hours to this voluntary requirement would 
inappropriately inflate the burden hours of this information 
collection. Second, the Commission has reduced the burden hours 
assigned to the third party disclosure requirements that are 
applicable to multiple respondents (as set forth in Commission 
regulations 190.06(d) and 190.10(c)). The notice and disclosure 
required by these regulations, respectively, are standardized and 
unchanged from the prior renewal. Accordingly, the time that the 
average respondent would spend drafting and sending the notice and 
disclosure is minimal.
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    The respondent burden for this information collection is estimated 
to be as follows: \7\
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    \7\ Because a commodity broker liquidation is estimated to occur 
only once every three years, the previous information collection, in 
many cases, expressed the burden of the reporting, recordkeeping, 
and third party disclosure requirements in terms of the burden 
applicable to ``.33'' respondents. For clarity, this notice 
expresses such burdens in terms of those that would be imposed on 
one respondent during the three year period. While the applicable 
burden is expressed in a different way, as noted above, the burden 
hours generally remain unchanged.
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    <bullet> Reporting: \8\
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    \8\ The reporting requirements are contained in Commission 
regulations 190.02(a)(1), 190.02(a)(2), and 190.06(b).
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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 1.33.
    Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 1.33.
    Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 1.33.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1.33.
    Type of Respondents: Commodity brokers, Trustees, and self-
regulatory organizations.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    <bullet> Recordkeeping: \9\
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    \9\ The recordkeeping requirements are contained in Commission 
regulations 190.03(a)(1), 190.03(a)(2), and 190.04(b).
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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 26,666.67.
    Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 26,666.67.
    Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 333.33.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 333.33.
    Type of Respondents: Trustees.
    Frequency of Collection: Daily and on occasion.
    <bullet> Third Party Disclosures Applicable to a Single Respondent: 
\10\
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    \10\ These third party disclosure requirements are contained in 
Commission regulations 190.02(b)(1), 190.02(b)(2), 190.02(b)(4), and 
190.02(c).
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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 1.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 6,671.32.
    Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 6,671.32.
    Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 1,034.63.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 1,034.63.
    Type of Respondents: Trustees.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    <bullet> Third Party Disclosures Applicable to Multiple 
Respondents: \11\
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    \11\ See fn. 1. The Commission is setting forth a new 
information collection under OMB Control No. 3038-0021 to separately 
account for the third party disclosure requirements provided for in 
Commission regulations 190.06(d) and 190.06(c) that are applicable 
on a regular basis to multiple respondents (i.e., multiple futures 
commission merchants).
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    Estimated Number of Respondents: 125.
    Estimated Annual Number of Responses per Respondent: 2,000.
    Estimated Total Annual Number of Responses: 250,000.
    Estimated Annual Number of Burden Hours per Respondent: 40.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,500.
    Type of Respondents: Futures commission merchants.
    Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
    There are no new capital or start-up or operations costs associated 
with this information collection, nor are there any maintenance costs 
associated with this information collection.

(Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.)

    Dated: August 24, 2018.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-18742 Filed 8-28-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6351-01-P


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