83 FR 29547 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Intent To Renew Collection 3038-0021, Regulations Governing Bankruptcies of Commodity Brokers

COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 122 (June 25, 2018)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the proposed extension of the collection of certain information by the agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection, and to allow 60 days for public comment. This notice solicits comments on the collection of information provided for by the Commission's regulations governing bankruptcies of commodity brokers.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 122 (Monday, June 25, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29547-29549]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13574]


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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities: Notice of Intent To 
Renew Collection 3038-0021, Regulations Governing Bankruptcies of 
Commodity Brokers

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or

[[Page 29548]]

Commission) is announcing an opportunity for public comment on the 
proposed extension of the collection of certain information by the 
agency. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Federal agencies are 
required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each 
proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension 
of an existing collection, and to allow 60 days for public comment. 
This notice solicits comments on the collection of information provided 
for by the Commission's regulations governing bankruptcies of commodity 
brokers.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before August 24, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by OMB Control No. 3038-
0021, by any of the following methods:
     CFTC Comments Portal: https://comments.cftc.gov. Select 
the ``Submit Comments'' link for this matter and follow the 
instructions on the Public Comment Form.
     Mail: Send to Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the 
Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette 
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Follow the same instructions as for 
Mail, above.
    Please submit your comments using only one of these methods. To 
avoid possible delays with mail or in-person deliveries, submissions 
through the CFTC Comments Portal are encouraged. All comments must be 
submitted in English or, if not, accompanied by an English translation. 
Comments will be posted as received to https://comments.cftc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel, 
Division of Clearing and Risk, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 
(202) 418-5926; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, Federal agencies must obtain 
approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each 
collection of information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of 
Information'' is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3 and 
includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public 
submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to 
respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB 
control number. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A), requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in 
the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information 
before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with 
this requirement, the CFTC is publishing notice of the proposed 
extension of the collection of information listed below.
    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.\1\
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    \1\ 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 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 third party disclosure requirements 
that are applicable on a regular basis to multiple respondents 
(i.e., multiple futures commission merchants) provided for in 
Commission regulations 190.06(d) and 190.10(c).
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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.\2\ These regulations apply to commodity broker liquidations 
under Chapter 7, Subchapter IV of the Bankruptcy Code.\3\
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    \2\ 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), and 
190.06(b).
    \3\ 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.
    With respect to the collections of information, the CFTC invites 
comments on:
     Whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Commission, including whether the information will have a practical 
use;
     The accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
     Ways to enhance the quality, usefulness, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and
     Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of 
information on those who are to respond, including through the use of 
appropriate automated electronic, mechanical, or other technological 
collection techniques or other forms of information technology; e.g., 
permitting electronic submission of responses.
    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 
(FOIA), 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.\4\ 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 https://comments.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 information 
collection requirements 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 FOIA.
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    \4\ 17 CFR 145.9.
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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

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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 nor are there currently apparent circumstances that 
would warrant altering those estimates.\5\ 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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    \5\ The Commission has retained the burden hour estimates for 
each of the applicable regulations except that 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.
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    The respondent burden for this information collection is estimated 
to be as follows: \6\
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    \6\ Because a commodity broker liquidation is estimated to occur 
only once every three years, the previous information collection 
expressed the burden of the reporting, recordkeeping, and third 
party disclosure requirements in terms of the burden applicable to 
``.33'' respondents in many cases. 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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    Reporting: \7\
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    \7\ 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.
    Recordkeeping: \8\
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    \8\ 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.
    Third Party Disclosures Applicable to a Single Respondent: \9\
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    \9\ 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.
    Third Party Disclosures Applicable to a Multiple Respondents: \10\
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    \10\ See fn. 1. The Commission is setting forth a new 
information collection under OMB Control No. 3038-0021 to separately 
account for 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: 100.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 12,500.
    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: June 20, 2018.
Christopher Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2018-13574 Filed 6-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6351-01-P