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[Federal Register: March 9, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 45)]
[Proposed Rules]               
[Page 10704-10707]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09mr10-21]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Bureau of Economic Analysis

15 CFR Part 801

[Docket No. 0908131235-0060-01]
RIN 0691-AA73

 
International Services Surveys: BE-180, Benchmark Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Foreign Persons

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, Department of Commerce (BEA) to set forth the 
reporting requirements for the BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial 
Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services Providers and 
Foreign Persons. The BE-180 would replace a similar but more limited 
survey, the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign 
Persons. The agency form number and survey title are being changed 
because the survey would include the collection of data on transactions 
with affiliated foreigners and unaffiliated foreigners using the same 
survey instrument. If adopted the BE-180 survey would be conducted once 
every five years beginning with fiscal year 2009.
    The proposed BE-180 survey is intended to cover financial services 
transactions with foreign persons. In nonbenchmark years, the universe 
estimates covering these transactions would be derived from the sample 
data reported on BEA's follow-on survey (BE-185, Quarterly Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Foreign Persons).
    The data will be used by BEA to estimate the financial services 
component of the U.S. International Transactions Accounts and other 
economic accounts compiled by BEA. The data also are needed by the 
government to monitor U.S. exports and imports of financial services; 
analyze their impact on the U.S. and foreign economies; support U.S. 
international trade policy on financial services; and assess and 
promote U.S. competitiveness in international trade in services. In 
addition, they will improve the ability of U.S. businesses to identify 
and evaluate market opportunities.

DATES: Comments on this proposed rule will receive consideration if 
submitted in writing on or before 5 p.m. May 10, 2010.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 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: Christopher.Emond@bea.gov.
     Fax: Chris Emond, Chief, Special Surveys Branch, (202) 
606-5318.
     Mail: Chris Emond, Chief, Special Surveys Branch, Balance 
of Payments Division, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, BE-50, Washington, DC 20230.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Chris Emond, Chief, Special Surveys 
Branch, Balance of Payments Division, U.S. Department of Commerce, 
Bureau of Economic Analysis, BE-50, Shipping and Receiving Section, 
M100, 1441 L Street, NW., Washington, DC 20005.
    Please include in your comment a reference to RIN 0691-AA73 in the 
subject line. Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or 
other aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained 
in the proposed rule should be sent both to BEA, through any of the 
methods listed above, and to the Office of Management and Budget, 
O.I.R.A., Paperwork Reduction Project, 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: Chris Emond, Chief, Special Surveys 
Branch, Balance of Payments Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic 
Analysis, U.S. DOC, Washington, DC 20230; e-mail 
Christopher.Emond@bea.gov; or phone (202) 606-9826.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This proposed rule would amend 15 CFR Part 
801 to set forth the reporting requirements for the BE-180, Benchmark 
Survey of Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial 
Services Providers and Foreign Persons. The BE-180 would replace a 
similar but more limited survey, the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons, and would include the 
collection of data on transactions with affiliated foreigners and 
unaffiliated foreigners. The proposed BE-180 survey is intended to 
cover financial services transactions with foreign persons. In 
nonbenchmark years, the universe estimates covering these transactions 
would be derived from the sample data reported on BEA's follow-on 
survey (BE-185, Quarterly Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
between U.S.

[[Page 10705]]

Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons).
    The survey would be mandatory for those U.S. financial companies 
that engage in the covered transactions in amounts that exceed the 
exemption level. The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing 
effort to reduce paperwork and respondents 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.
    The survey as described in this rule would be conducted by BEA 
every five years, with the first survey covering fiscal year 2009, 
under the authority provided by the International Investment and Trade 
in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108), hereinafter, ``the Act,'' 
and by Section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 
1988. If this proposed rule is implemented, BEA would send the survey 
to potential respondents in June of 2010; responses would be due by 
August 31, 2010.
    The services covered by the BE-180 would include the following 
transactions: (1) Brokerage services related to equity transactions, 
and (2) other brokerage services; (3) underwriting and private 
placement services; (4) financial management services; (5) credit-
related services, except credit card services, and (6) credit card 
services; (7) financial advisory and custody services; (8) securities 
lending services; (9) electronic funds transfer services; and (10) 
other financial services. The exemption level for the proposed survey 
is total sales or purchases of $3 million during the reporting period, 
for the ten categories listed above. Financial companies that exceed 
this threshold must supply data on the amount of their financial 
transactions for each category, disaggregated by country and by its 
relationship to the foreign transactor (foreign affiliate, foreign 
parent group, or unaffiliated). In addition, this survey would collect 
subcomponents of financial management receipts at the global level.
    U.S. financial companies that are exempt from the survey's 
reporting requirements because they do not meet the reporting threshold 
are requested to provide, on a voluntary basis, estimates of their 
covered financial services transactions. Any U.S. financial company 
that receives the BE-180 survey form from BEA, but does not report data 
because it is exempt under the regulations, must file an exemption 
claim by completing pages one through five of the survey. This 
requirement is necessary to ensure efficient administration of the Act 
by eliminating unnecessary follow-up contact. If a U.S. financial 
company does not receive the BE-180 survey form and is not otherwise 
required to report under these regulations, then the company is not 
required to take any action.
    BEA maintains a continuing dialogue with respondents and with data 
users, including its own internal users, to ensure that, as far as 
possible, the required data serve their intended purposes and are 
available from the existing records, that instructions are clear, and 
that unreasonable burdens are not imposed. In reaching decisions on 
questions to include in the survey, BEA considered the Government's 
need for the data, the burden imposed on respondents, the quality of 
the likely responses (for example, whether the data are available on 
respondents' books), and BEA's experience in previous benchmark, 
annual, and quarterly surveys.

Survey Background

    The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, 
would conduct the survey under the International Investment and Trade 
in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108), and Section 5408 of the 
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. Section 4(a) of the Act 
(22 U.S.C. 3103(a)) provides that the President shall, to the extent he 
deems necessary and feasible, conduct a regular data collection program 
to secure current information related to international investment and 
trade in services and publish for the use of the general public and 
United States Government agencies periodic, regular, and comprehensive 
statistical information collected pursuant to this subsection.
    In Section 3 of Executive Order 11961, as amended by Executive 
Orders 12318 and 12518, the President delegated the responsibilities 
under the Act for performing functions concerning international trade 
in services to the Secretary of Commerce, who has redelegated them to 
BEA.
    Data from the proposed survey are needed to monitor U.S. exports 
and imports of financial services; analyze their impact on the U.S. and 
foreign economies; compile and improve the U.S. international 
transactions, national income and product, and input-output accounts; 
support U.S. international trade policy on financial services; assess 
and promote U.S. competitiveness in international trade in services; 
and improve the ability of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate 
market opportunities.

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 sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism 
Assessment under E.O. 13132.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    This proposed rule contains a collection-of-information requirement 
subject to review and approval by the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act. The requirement will be 
submitted to OMB as a request to reinstate with change a previously 
approved collection for which approval has expired under OMB Control 
Number 0608-0062.
    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 Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection 
displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget Control 
Number.
    The benchmark survey, as proposed, is expected to result in the 
filing of reports from approximately 8,000 respondents. Approximately 
1,000 respondents would report mandatory or voluntary data on the 
survey and approximately 7,000 would file exemption claims. The 
respondent burden for this collection of information would vary from 
one respondent to another, but is estimated to average ten hours, 
including time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing data 
sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and 
reviewing the collection of information for the respondents that file 
mandatory or voluntary data and two hours for other responses. Thus, 
the total respondent burden for the survey is estimated at 24,000 
hours.
    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.

[[Page 10706]]

    Written comments regarding the burden-hour estimates or other 
aspects of the collection-of-information requirements contained in the 
proposed rule should be sent both to BEA, through any of the methods 
listed above, and to the Office of Management and Budget, O.I.R.A., 
Paperwork Reduction Project, Attention PRA Desk Officer for BEA, via e-
mail at pbugg@omb.eop.gov, or by FAX at 202-395-7245.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has 
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business 
Administration, under 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. While the survey does not collect data on total sales or 
other measures of the overall size of the businesses that respond to 
the survey, historically the respondents to the existing quarterly 
survey of financial services transactions and to the previous benchmark 
surveys have been comprised mainly of major U.S. corporations. The 
proposed benchmark survey will be required from U.S. financial 
companies whose sales or purchases of the covered financial services 
with foreign persons exceeded $3 million for fiscal year 2009. This 
exemption level will exclude most small businesses from mandatory 
coverage. Any small businesses that may be required to report would 
likely have engaged in only a few covered transactions and so the 
burden on them would be relatively small.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801

    International transactions, Economic statistics, Foreign trade, 
Penalties, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: January 12, 2010.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

    For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA proposes to amend 15 
CFR Part 801, as follows:

PART 801--SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN U.S. 
AND FOREIGN PERSONS

    1. The authority citation for 15 CFR Part 801 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108; 
and E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86, as amended by E.O. 12318, 
3 CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 173, and E.O. 12518, 3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p 348.

    2. Amend Sec.  801.9 by revising paragraph (a) to read as follows:


Sec.  801.9  Reports required.

    (a) Benchmark surveys. Section 4(a)(4) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 3103) 
provides that benchmark surveys of trade in services between U.S. and 
foreign persons be conducted, but not more frequently than every 5 
years. General reporting requirements, exemption levels, and the years 
of coverage for the BE-120 survey may be found in Sec.  801.10: General 
reporting requirements, exemption levels, and the years of coverage for 
the BE-140 survey may be found in Sec.  801.11: More detailed 
instructions are given on the forms themselves; and general reporting 
requirements, exemption levels, and the years for coverage for the BE-
180 survey may be found in Sec.  801.12:
* * * * *


Sec.  801.11  [Removed]

    3. Remove Sec.  801.11.


Sec.  801.12  [Redesignated as Sec.  801.11]

    4. Redesignate Sec.  801.12 as Sec.  801.11.
    5. Add section 801.12 to read as follows:


Sec.  801.12  Rules and regulations for the BE-180, Benchmark Survey of 
Financial Services Transactions between U.S. Financial Services 
Providers and Foreign Persons.

    (a) The BE-180, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions 
between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Foreign Persons, will be 
conducted beginning with fiscal year 2009 and every fifth year 
thereafter. More detailed instructions are given on the report forms 
and instructions.
    (b) Who must report--(1) Mandatory reporting. A report is required 
from each U.S. person that is a financial services provider or 
intermediary, or whose consolidated U.S. enterprise includes a 
separately organized subsidiary, or part, that is a financial services 
provider or intermediary, and that had transactions (either sales or 
purchases) directly with foreign persons in all financial services 
combined in excess of $3,000,000 during its fiscal year covered by the 
survey on an accrual basis. The $3,000,000 threshold should be applied 
to financial services transactions with foreign persons by all parts of 
the consolidated U.S. enterprise combined that are financial services 
providers or intermediaries. Because the $3,000,000 threshold applies 
separately to sales and purchases, the mandatory reporting requirement 
may apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
    (i) The determination of whether a U.S. financial services provider 
or intermediary is subject to this mandatory reporting requirement may 
be based on the judgment of knowledgeable persons in a company who can 
identify reportable transactions on a recall basis, with a reasonable 
degree of certainty, without conducting a detailed manual records 
search.
    (ii) Reporters that file pursuant to this mandatory reporting 
requirement must provide data on total sales and/or purchases of each 
of the covered types of financial services transactions and must 
disaggregate the totals by country and by relationship to the foreign 
transactor (foreign affiliate, foreign parent group, or unaffiliated).
    (2) Voluntary reporting. If, during the fiscal year covered, sales 
or purchases of financial services by a firm that is a financial 
services provider or intermediary, or by a firm's subsidiaries, or 
parts, combined that are financial services providers or 
intermediaries, are $3,000,000 or less, the U.S. person is requested to 
provide an estimate of the total for each type of service. Provision of 
this information is voluntary. Because the $3,000,000 threshold applies 
separately to sales and purchases, this voluntary reporting option may 
apply only to sales, only to purchases, or to both.
    (3) Exemption claims. Entities that receive the BE-180 survey but 
are not subject to the mandatory reporting requirements and choose not 
to report data voluntarily must file an exemption claim by completing 
pages one through five of the BE-180 survey and returning them to BEA.
    (c) BE-180 definition of financial services provider. The 
definition of financial services provider used for this survey is 
identical to the definition of the term as used in the North American 
Industry Classification System, United States, 2007, Sector 52-Finance 
and Insurance, and holding companies that own or influence, and are 
principally engaged in making management decisions for these firms 
(part of Sector 55-Management of Companies and Enterprises). For 
example, companies and/or subsidiaries and other separable parts of 
companies in the following industries are defined as financial services 
providers: Depository credit intermediation and related activities 
(including commercial banking, savings institutions, credit unions, and 
other depository credit intermediation); non-depository credit 
intermediation (including credit card issuing, sales financing, and 
other non-depository credit intermediation); activities related to 
credit intermediation (including mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers, 
financial transactions processing,

[[Page 10707]]

reserve, and clearinghouse activities, and other activities related to 
credit intermediation); securities and commodity contracts 
intermediation and brokerage (including investment banking and 
securities dealing, securities brokerage, commodity contracts and 
dealing, and commodity contracts brokerage); securities and commodity 
exchanges; other financial investment activities (including 
miscellaneous intermediation, portfolio management, investment advice, 
and all other financial investment activities); insurance carriers; 
insurance agencies, brokerages, and other insurance related activities; 
insurance and employee benefit funds (including pension funds, health 
and welfare funds, and other insurance funds); other investment pools 
and funds (including open-end investment funds, trusts, estates, and 
agency accounts, real estate investment trusts, and other financial 
vehicles); and holding companies that own, or influence the management 
decisions of, firms principally engaged in the aforementioned 
activities.
    (d) Covered types of services. The BE-180 survey covers the 
following types of financial services transactions (sales or purchases) 
between U.S. financial companies and foreign persons: Brokerage 
services related to equity transactions; other brokerage services; 
underwriting and private placement services; financial management 
services; credit-related services, except credit card services; credit 
card services; financial advisory and custody services; securities 
lending services; electronic funds transfer services; and other 
financial services.
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[FR Doc. 2010-4983 Filed 3-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P
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