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[Federal Register: September 1, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 169)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 53611-53612]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01se10-16]                         

[[Page 53611]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 806

[Docket No. 100202061-0063-01]
RIN 0691-AA75

 
Direct Investment Surveys: BE-577, Quarterly Survey of U.S. 
Direct Investment Abroad--Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With 
Foreign Affiliate

AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: This proposed rule would amend regulations of the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA), Department of Commerce, to set forth the 
reporting requirements for BE-577 quarterly survey of U.S. direct 
investment abroad. The survey is conducted quarterly and obtains sample 
data on transactions and positions between U.S.-owned foreign business 
enterprises and their U.S. parents.
    BEA proposes modification of items on the survey form and in the 
reporting criteria. Changes are proposed to bring the BE-577 forms and 
related instructions into conformity with the 2009 BE-10, Benchmark 
Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, and to raise the threshold for 
reporting.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule will receive consideration if 
submitted in writing on or before 5 p.m. November 1, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 0691-AA75, and 
referencing the agency name (Bureau of Economic Analysis), by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments. For agency, select 
``Commerce Department--all.''
     E-mail: David.Galler@bea.gov.
     Fax: Office of the Chief, Direct Investment Division, 
(202) 606-5318.
     Mail: Office of the Chief, Direct Investment Division, 
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, BE-50, 
Washington, DC 20230.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Office of the Chief, Direct 
Investment Division, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, BE-50, Shipping and Receiving, Section M100, 1441 L Street, 
NW., Washington, DC, 20005.
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in the 
proposed rule should be sent to both BEA through any of the methods 
above and to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), O.I.R.A., 
Paperwork Reduction Project 0608-0004, Attention PRA Desk Officer for 
BEA, via e-mail at pbugg@omb.eop.gov, or by FAX at (202) 395-7245.
    Public Inspection: All comments received are a part of the public 
record and will generally be posted to http://www.regulations.gov 
without change. All personal identifying information (for example, 
name, address, etc.) voluntarily submitted by the commentator may be 
publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or 
otherwise sensitive or protected information. BEA will accept anonymous 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David H. Galler, Chief, Direct 
Investment Division, BE-50, Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. 
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9835.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In Section 3 of Executive Order 11961, as 
amended by Executive Orders 12318 and 12518, the President delegated 
responsibility for performing functions under the Act as concerns 
direct investment to the Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated it 
to BEA. The BE-577 quarterly survey of U.S. direct investment abroad is 
a mandatory survey and is conducted quarterly by BEA under the 
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act, 22 U.S.C. 
3101-3108 (the Act).
    The survey is a sample survey that collects data on transactions 
and positions between U.S.-owned foreign business enterprises and their 
U.S. parents. The sample data are used to derive quarterly universe 
estimates from similar data reported in the BE-10, Benchmark Survey of 
U.S. Direct Investment Abroad, which is conducted every five years. The 
data are used in the preparation of the U.S. international transactions 
accounts and national income and product accounts. The data are needed 
to measure the size and economic significance of U.S. direct investment 
abroad, measure changes in such investment, and assess its impact on 
the U.S. and foreign economies. BEA will send BE-577 survey forms to 
potential respondents each quarter; responses will be due within 30 
days after the close of each fiscal quarter, except for the final 
quarter of the fiscal year, when reports will be due within 45 days.
    This proposed rule would amend 15 CFR 806.14 to set forth the 
reporting requirements for the BE-577 quarterly survey of U.S. direct 
investment abroad. The Department of Commerce, as part of its 
continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites 
the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed 
and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520 (PRA).

Description of Changes

    BEA proposes to raise the threshold for exempting entities from the 
reporting requirements of BE-577 from $40 million to $60 million and to 
discontinue collecting information on transactions classified as 
permanent debt and related interest payments between U.S. parent 
companies that are banks, bank holding companies, or financial holding 
companies and their bank foreign affiliates. Recent changes in 
international standards call for the bank permanent debt previously 
classified as direct investment to be classified as other investment, 
for which statistics are collected by the Treasury Department through 
the Treasury International Capital System. BEA also proposes to change 
the title of Form BE-577 to ``Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct 
Investment Abroad--Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign 
Affiliate.''
    The exemption level was last changed in 2006 following the 2004 
Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad. The exemption level 
is stated in terms of the foreign affiliate's assets, sales, and net 
income. U.S. parents would be required to report for their foreign 
affiliates if the foreign affiliates have total assets, sales or gross 
operating revenues, or net income greater than $60 million (positive or 
negative). At the new reporting threshold, BEA would collect about 
14,500 forms per quarter, compared to 17,500 under the previous 
threshold. About 3,000 affiliates--accounting for less than 1.5 percent 
of the final universe estimates of income and position--would drop out 
of the sample and would be estimated based on reports received on the 
benchmark survey.

Survey Background

    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, 
conducts the BE-577 survey under the authority of the International 
Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108), 
hereinafter, ``the Act.'' Section 4(a) of the Act (22.U.S.C. 3103(a)) 
provides that, with respect to United States direct investment abroad, 
the President shall, to the extent he deems necessary and

[[Page 53612]]

feasible, conduct a regular data collection program to secure current 
information on international capital flows and other information 
related to international investment and trade in services including 
(but not limited to) such information that may be necessary for 
computing and analyzing the United States balance of payments, the 
employment and taxes of United States parents and affiliates, and the 
international investment and trade in services position of the United 
States.

Executive Order 12866

    This proposed rule has been determined to be not significant for 
purposes of E.O. 12866.

Executive Order 13132

    This proposed rule does not contain policies with Federalism 
implications as that term is defined in E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule contains a collection-of-information requirement 
subject to review and approval by the OMB under the PRA. The 
requirement has been submitted to OMB for approval as a revision to a 
collection currently approved under OMB control number 0608-0004.
    Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection-of-information subject to the 
requirements of the PRA unless that collection displays a currently 
valid OMB control number.
    The BE-577 survey, as proposed, is expected to result in the filing 
of about 14,500 foreign affiliate reports by an estimated 1,750 U.S. 
parent companies. A parent company must file one form per affiliate. 
The respondent burden for this collection of information is estimated 
to vary from one-half hour to three hours per response, with an average 
of one hour per response, including time for reviewing instructions, 
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data 
needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. 
Because reports are filed 4 times per year, 58,000 responses annually 
are expected. Thus, the total annual respondent burden of the survey is 
estimated at 58,000 hours (14,500 respondents filing 4 times per year 
multiplied by 1 hour average burden). The survey's estimated respondent 
burden of 58,000 hours compares with a total burden of 62,000 burden 
hours in the current OMB inventory. The reduction in burden is a result 
of raising the threshold for filing from $40 million to $60 million.
    Comments are requested concerning: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information will 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the burden estimate; (c) 
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information 
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on the respondents, including the use of automated 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection of information requirements contained in the 
proposed rule should be sent to both BEA and OMB following the 
instructions given in the ADDRESSES section above.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business 
Administration (SBA), under the provisions of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that this proposed rulemaking, if 
adopted, will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Few small U.S. businesses are subject to the 
reporting requirements of this survey. U.S. companies that have direct 
investments tend to be quite large. Although the BE-577 survey does not 
itself collect data on the size of the U.S. companies that must 
respond, data collected on related BEA surveys indicate that about 200 
of the estimated 1,750 U.S. parent companies that will be required to 
respond to the BE-577 quarterly survey are small businesses according 
to the standards established by the SBA. The exemption level for the 
BE-577 survey is set in terms of the size of a U.S. company's foreign 
affiliates (foreign companies owned 10 percent or more by the U.S. 
company); if a foreign affiliate has total assets, sales or gross 
operating revenues, or net income greater than $60 million (positive or 
negative), it must be reported. Usually, the U.S. parent company that 
is required to file the report is many times larger than its largest 
foreign affiliate.
    The approximately 200 U.S. businesses that meet the SBA small 
business standards tend to have few foreign affiliates, and the foreign 
affiliates that they do own are small for the purposes of this 
analysis. With the proposed increase in the exemption level for the BE-
577 survey from $40 million to $60 million (stated in terms of the 
foreign affiliate's assets, sales, and net income), small U.S. 
businesses will be required to file fewer reports for their foreign 
affiliates than would be required in the absence of this increase.
    Because few small businesses are impacted by this rule, and because 
those small businesses that are impacted are subject to only minimal 
recordkeeping burdens, the Chief Counsel for Regulation certifies that 
this proposed rule will not have a significant economic impact on a 
substantial number of small entities.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806

    Economic statistics, International transactions, Penalties, 
Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, U.S. investment abroad.

J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA proposes to amend 15 
CFR part 806 as follows:

PART 806--DIRECT INVESTMENT SURVEYS

    1. The authority citation for 15 CFR part 806 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108; E.O. 11961 (3 
CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 12318 (3 CFR, 1981 
Comp., p. 173); E.O. 12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348).

    2. Section 806.14(e) is revised to read as follows:

Sec.  806.14  U.S. direct investment abroad.

* * * * *
    (e) Quarterly report form. BE-577, Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct 
Investment Abroad--Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign 
Affiliate: One report is required for each foreign affiliate exceeding 
an exemption level of $60 million except that a report need not be 
filed by a U.S. Reporter to report direct transactions with one of its 
foreign affiliates in which it does not hold a direct equity interest 
unless an intercompany balance for the quarter exceeds $1 million.
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 2010-21833 Filed 8-31-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P
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