44706 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 148 / Thursday, July 31, 2008 / Notices 

1 12 U.S.C. 4422. 

2FDICIA Section 408(1), 12 U.S.C. 4421(1), 

defines MCO to mean ‘‘a system utilized by more 

than [two] participants in which the bilateral credit 

exposures of participants arising from the 

transactions cleared are effectively eliminated and 

replaced by a system of guarantees, insurance, or 

mutualized risk of loss.’’

3FDICIA Section 408(2), 12 U.S.C. 4421(2) 

defines OTC derivative instrument. 

4FDICIA Section 409(b)(3), 12 U.S.C. 4422(b)(3). 

The CFTC has issued two previous orders pursuant 

to this authority determining that the supervision 

of particular MCOs by a foreign financial regulator 

met appropriate standards. The foreign financial 

regulators involved were the Norwegian Banking, 

Insurance and Securities Commission and the 

Alberta (Canada) Securities Commission. See 67 FR 

2419 (January 17, 2002) and 71 FR 10959 (March 

3, 2006), respectively. 

notify the public of the availability for 

comment of the permit application. All 

comments received will become part of 

the public record and will be available 

for review pursuant to the ESA. 

DATES: Written comments on the 

application and draft EA must be 

received at the appropriate address or 

fax number (see ADDRESSES) no later 

than 5 p.m. Pacific daylight time on 

September 2, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the 

application should be sent to Richard 

Turner, National Marine Fisheries 

Services, Salmon Recovery Division, 

1201 N.E. Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, 

Portland, OR 97232. Comments may 

also be submitted by e-mail to: 

graysriver.nwr@noaa.gov. Include in the 

subject line of the e-mail comment the 

following identifier: Comments on 

Grays River program. Comments may 

also be sent via facsimile (fax) to (503) 

872–2737. Requests for copies of the 

permit application should be directed to 

the National Marine Fisheries Services, 

Salmon Recovery Division, 1201 NE 

Lloyd Boulevard, Suite 1100, Portland, 

OR 97232. The documents are also 

available on the Internet at 

www.nwr.noaa.gov. Comments received 

will also be available for public 

inspection, by appointment, during 

normal business hours by calling (503) 

736–4737. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Richard Turner at (503) 736–4737 or email: rich.turner@noaa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is relevant to the following 

species and evolutionarily significant 

units (ESUs) or distinct population 

segments (DPSs) 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus. 

tshawytscha): threatened, Lower 

Columbia River 

Coho salmon (O. kisutch): threatened, 

Lower Columbia River 

Chum salmon (O. keta): threatened, 

Columbia River 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal 

regulations prohibit the ≥taking≥ of a 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. The term ≥take≥ is defined 

under the ESA to mean harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. NMFS may 

issue permits to take listed species for 

any act otherwise prohibited by section 

9 for scientific purposes or to enhance 

the propagation or survival of the 

affected species, under section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. NMFS 

regulations governing permits for 

threatened and endangered species are 

promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307. 

NMFS expects to take action on a ESA 

section 10(a)(1)(A) submittal received 

from the applicant. In an application 

received on July 11, 2008, WDFW 

submitted an application to NMFS for 

an ESA section 10(a)(1)(A) permit for 

the direct take of ESA-listed threatened 

Lower Columbia River Chinook salmon, 

Lower Columbia River Coho salmon, 

and Columbia River Chum salmon from 

the Grays River in Wahkiakum County, 

Washington. A temporary weir will be 

installed in the lower Grays River in 

order to complement existing adult 

salmonid monitoring efforts in the Grays 

River in developing accurate and 

precise estimates of total abundance, 

and to promote recovery of the Grays 

River fall Chinook salmon population 

through the removal of non-local 

hatchery Chinook salmon. 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(c) of the ESA. NMFS will 

evaluate the application, associated 

documents, and comments submitted 

thereon to determine whether the 

application meets the requirements of 

section 10(a)(1)(A) of the ESA. If it is 

determined that the requirements are 

met, a permit will be issued to the 

WDFW for the purpose of carrying out 

the research program. NMFS will 

publish a record of its final action in the 

Federal Register. 

Dated: July 25, 2008. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–17570 Filed 7–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–22–S 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Determination of Appropriateness of 

Standards of the United Kingdom’s 

Financial Services Authority for 

Oversight and Supervision of ICE Clear 

Europe Limited, a Multilateral Clearing 

Organization 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Order. 

SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures 

Trading Commission (CFTC) is issuing 

an Order pursuant to Section 409(b)(3) 

of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA). 

Section 409(b)(3) provides that the 

Commission (or one of several other 

authorized U.S. financial regulators) 

may determine that the supervision by 

a foreign financial regulator of a 

multilateral clearing organization (MCO) 

for over-the-counter (OTC) instruments 

satisfies appropriate standards. The 

Commission is issuing this Order with 

respect to the supervision by the United 

Kingdom’s (UK) Financial Services 

Authority (FSA) of ICE Clear Europe 

Limited (ICE Clear Europe). 

DATES: Effective Date: July 31, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Robert B. Wasserman, Associate 

Director, 202–418–5092, 

rwasserman@cftc.gov, or Lois J. Gregory, 

Special Counsel, 816–960–7719, 

lgregory@cftc.gov, Division of Clearing 

and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission, Three 

Lafayette Centre, 1151 21st Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20581. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CFTC 

has issued the following Order: 

Order Issued Pursuant to Section 409 

of the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation Improvement Act 

Determining the Appropriateness of the 

Standards of the United Kingdom’s 

Financial Services Authority in the 

Oversight and Supervision of ICE Clear 

Europe Limited, a Multilateral Clearing 

Organization. 

FDICIA Section 409 1 provides that, in 

order to operate an MCO 2 for over-thecounter (OTC) derivatives instruments,3

a clearing organization must meet one of 

several alternative requirements. In 

particular, a clearing organization will 

qualify to operate such an MCO if it is 

supervised by a foreign financial 

regulator that the Comptroller of the 

Currency, the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System, the Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation, the 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

or the CFTC, as applicable, has 

determined satisfies appropriate 

standards.4

ICE Clear Europe, a Recognised 

Clearing House under the supervision of 

the UK FSA, has requested that the 

CFTC determine that the FSA’s program 

for supervision of their clearing 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 148 / Thursday, July 31, 2008 / Notices 44707 

5Letter from Paul Swann, President and Chief 

Operating Officer of Ice Clear Europe, to David A. 

Stawick, Secretary, CFTC, dated March 10, 2008, 

with annexes. ICE Clear Europe intends to clear 

OTC derivatives transactions to be executed on the 

IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (ICE), a U.S. exempt 

commercial market. See generally CEA § 2(h)(3), 7 

U.S.C. 2(h)(3), for a discussion of exempt 

commercial markets. This activity will bring it 

within FDICIA’s definition of an MCO. See FDICIA 

§ 408(2)(C), 12 U.S.C. 4421(2)(C) (defining OTC 

derivative instrument to include any agreement, 

contract, or transaction exempt under CEA Section 

2(h)). 

6Financial Services and Markets Act, 2000 (Eng.). 

References to sections of the FSMA are hereinafter 

cited as ‘‘Section [ ] FSMA.’’

7Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 

(Recognition for Investment Exchanges and Clearing 

Houses) Regulations (2001) SI 2001/995. 

8The FSA provides what it describes as a 

‘‘specialized sourcebook’’ entitled ‘‘Recognised 

Investment Exchanges and Recognised Clearing 

Houses (REC) requirements applying to recognised 

bodies as part of the ‘‘FSA Handbook,’’ which is 

available at http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/ 

handbook/REC. 

9The issues raised under Section 409 do not 

include FSA’s supervision of trading, and the 

Commission has accordingly not reviewed that 

aspect of FSA’s regulatory program in considering 

the present Order. 

10Section 2 FSMA. 

11Section 285 FSMA. ICE Clear Europe received 

such recognition on May 12, 2008. 

12See generally the Memorandum of 

Understanding between the United States CFTC and 

the United Kingdom FSA Concerning Consultation, 

Cooperation and the Exchange of Information 

Related to Market Oversight (November 12, 2006) 

and other agreements to cooperate referred to 

therein. 1NFA is the only registered futures association. 

activities satisfies appropriate 

standards.5 Such a determination would 

permit ICE Clear Europe to operate as an 

MCO consistent with the requirements 

set forth in FDICIA Section 409(b)(3). 

In reviewing this request, the 

Commission has considered the UK 

legal and regulatory regime for what are 

referred to as ‘‘recognised clearing 

houses,’’ and how that regime has been 

applied to ICE Clear Europe. This 

includes the UK’s Financial Services 

and Markets Act, 2000 6 (FSMA), 

regulations thereunder,7 and regulatory 

guidance provided by the FSA.8 ICE 

Clear Europe provided the CFTC with 

its analysis of the correspondence 

between recognition requirements 

applicable to clearing houses recognized 

by the FSA and the core principles 

applicable to DCOs as set forth in CEA 

Section 5b.9

The Commission also considered 

additional facts, including the authority 

of the FSA to enforce compliance with 

the applicable foreign law, the foreign 

law’s applicability to the activities of 

MCOs, FSA’s membership in the 

International Organization of Securities 

Commissions (IOSCO), a review of the 

UK financial system in general 

(including FSA’s supervision of clearing 

in particular) by the International 

Monetary Fund and World Bank (with 

satisfactory results), and the FSA’s 

demonstrated ability and willingness to 

share information and otherwise 

cooperate with the CFTC. 

The FSA is authorized under the 

FSMA to supervise the clearing of 

financial instruments by persons located 

in the UK and has the authority to 

enforce compliance with applicable 

laws, rules and regulations.10 Clearing 

in the UK of OTC instruments may be 

conducted only by a clearing house 

recognized by the FSA,11 thus MCO 

activity is subject to regulatory 

supervision by the FSA. Furthermore, 

the FSA has the ability and has agreed 

to share with the CFTC, upon request, 

information in its possession regarding 

ICE Clear Europe’s activities as a 

recognised clearing house and to 

otherwise cooperate with the CFTC.12

As a matter of courtesy, the 

Commission invited comment 

concerning ICE Clear Europe’s 

application from the other federal 

financial regulators listed in Section 

409, but received none. The 

Commission also invited the public to 

comment on ICE Clear’s petition by 

general release posted on the 

Commission’s Web site on June 17, 

2008. The Commission received 

comments from three individuals. Each 

of these comments concerned the 

trading of contracts in the United 

Kingdom, but none addressed the FSA’s 

program for the supervision of clearing. 

As noted above, the supervision of 

trading was outside the scope of the 

current review. 

Based upon this information, the 

CFTC has determined, pursuant to 

FDICIA Section 409(b)(3), that the 

supervision by the UK’s FSA of ICE 

Clear Europe’s activity in clearing OTC 

instruments satisfies appropriate 

standards. Any material changes or 

omissions in the facts and 

circumstances upon which this order is 

based might require the CFTC to 

reconsider this matter. 

Issued in Washington, DC, on July 23, 

2008. 

David A. Stawick, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. E8–17357 Filed 7–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6351–01–P 

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 

COMMISSION 

Fees for Reviews of the Rule 

Enforcement Programs of Contract 

Markets and Registered Futures 

Associations 

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission. 

ACTION: Establish the FY 2008 schedule 

of fees. 

SUMMARY: The Commission charges fees 

to designated contract markets and 

registered futures associations to recover 

the costs incurred by the Commission in 

the operation of its program of oversight 

of self-regulatory organization (SRO) 

rule enforcement programs (17 CFR part 

1 Appendix B) (National Futures 

Association (NFA), a registered futures 

association, and the contract markets are 

referred to as SROs). The calculation of 

the fee amounts to be charged for FY 

2008 is based upon an average of actual 

program costs incurred during FY 2005, 

2006, and 2007, as explained below. 

The FY 2008 fee schedule is set forth in 

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. 

Electronic payment of fees is required. 

DATES: Effective Date: The FY 2008 fees 

for Commission oversight of each SRO 

rule enforcement program must be paid 

by each of the named SROs in the 

amount specified by no later than 

September 29, 2008. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Stacy Dean Yochum, Deputy Executive 

Director, Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission, (202) 418–5157, Three 

Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20581. For information 

on electronic payment, contact Angela 

Clark, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st 

Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581, 

(202) 418–5178. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General 

This notice relates to fees for the 

Commission’s review of the rule 

enforcement programs at the registered 

futures associations 1 and designated 

contract markets (DCM), which are 

referred to as SROs, regulated by the 

Commission. 

II. Schedule of Fees 

Fees for the Commission’s review of 

the rule enforcement programs at the 

registered futures associations and 

DCMs regulated by the Commission: 

Entity Fee amount 

Chicago Board of Trade ........... $146,077 


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