2016-01139. Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review

AGENCY:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

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

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before February 22, 2016.

ADDRESSES:

Comments regarding the burden estimated 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 notice's publication, by email at [e-mail]. Please identify the comments by OMB Control No. 3038-0080. Please provide the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) with a copy of all submitted comments at the address listed below. Please refer to OMB Reference No. 3038-0080, found on http://reginfo.gov. Comments may also be mailed 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, or through the Agency's Web site at http://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Web site.

Comments may also be mailed to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581 or by Hand Delivery/Courier at the same address.

A copy of the supporting statements for the collection of information discussed above 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jacob Chachkin, Special Counsel, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, [phone], email: [e-mail], and refer to OMB Control No. 3038-0080.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Annual Report for Chief Compliance Officer of Registrants (OMB Control No. 3038-0080). This is a request for an extension of a currently approved information collection.

Abstract: On April 3, 2012, the Commission adopted Commission regulation 3.3 (Chief Compliance Officer) ^[1] under sections 4d(d) and 4s(k) ^[2] of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”). Commission regulation 3.3 requires each futures commission merchant (“FCM”),^[3] swap dealer (“SD”),^[4] and major swap participant (“MSP”) ^[5] to designate, by filing a form 8-R, a chief compliance officer who is responsible for developing and administering policies and procedures that fulfill certain duties of the FCM, SD, or MSP and that are reasonably designed to ensure the registrant's compliance with the CEA and Commission regulations; establishing procedures for the remediation of noncompliance issues identified by the chief compliance officer; establishing procedures for the handling, management response, remediation, retesting, and closing of noncompliance issues; preparing, signing, certifying and filing with the Commission an annual compliance report that contains the information specified in the regulations; amending the annual report if material errors or omissions are identified; and maintaining records of the registrant's compliance policies and procedures and records related to the annual report.

The information collection obligations imposed by Commission regulation 3.3 are essential to ensuring that FCMs, SDs, and MSPs maintain comprehensive policies and procedures that promote compliance with the CEA and Commission regulations. In particular, the Commission believes that, among other things, these obligations (i) promote compliance behavior through periodic self-evaluation, (ii) inform the Commission of possible compliance weaknesses, (iii) assist the Commission in determining whether the registrant remains in compliance with the CEA and Commission regulations, and (iv) help the Commission to assess whether the registrant has mechanisms in place to adequately address compliance problems that could lead to a failure of the registrant.

Burden Statement: In light of the current number of Commission-registered FCMs, SDs, and MSPs, the Commission revised its estimate of the burden for this collection. Accordingly, the respondent burden for this collection is estimated to be as follows:

Number of Registrants: 178.

Estimated Average Burden Hours per Registrant: 1,006.

Estimated Aggregate Burden Hours: 179,068.

Frequency of Recordkeeping/Third-party Disclosure: Annually or on occasion.

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

Dated: January 15, 2016.

Robert N. Sidman,

Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

Footnotes

1.  17 CFR 3.3.

2.  7 U.S.C. 6d(d) and 6s(k).

3.  For the definition of FCM, see section 1a(28) of the CEA and Commission regulation 1.3(p). 7 U.S.C. 1a(28) and 17 CFR 1.3(p).

4.  For the definition of SD, see section 1a(49) of the CEA and Commission regulation 1.3(ggg). 7 U.S.C. 1a(49) and 17 CFR 1.3(ggg).

5.  For the definitions of MSP, see section 1a(33) of the CEA and Commission regulation 1.3(hhh). 7 U.S.C. 1a(33) and 17 CFR 1.3(hhh).