[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 1995)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 10489-10490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4631]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
15 CFR Part 806
[Docket No. 9050206037-5037-01]
RIN 0691-AA23
Direct Investment Surveys: Raising Exemption Level for Quarterly
Report Form BE-577
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations on direct investment
surveys to raise the exemption level for filing quarterly Form BE-577,
Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate. The BE-577
is a mandatory survey of U.S. direct investment abroad conducted by the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce. Under
this final rule, the exemption level for the survey--the level below
which reports are not required--is raised from $15 million to $20
million. This change will reduce the number of respondents that
otherwise must report in the survey.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule will be effective March 29, 1995.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Betty L. Barker, Chief, International Investment Division (BE-50),
Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington,
DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9800.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the December 12, 1994 Federal Register,
59 FR 63941, BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would
increase the exemption level for filing the BE-577, Direct Transactions
of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate. No comments on the proposed
rule itself were received. (As noted below, one comment on changes to
the survey forms that did not require rule changes was received.) Thus,
this final rule is the same as the proposed rule.
The quarterly BE-577 is part of BEA's regular data collection
program for U.S. direct investment abroad. The survey is mandatory and
is conducted pursuant to the International Investment and Trade in
Services Survey Act (Pub. L. 94-472, 90 Stat. 2059, 22 U.S.C. 3101-
3108, as amended).
The exemption level is set in terms of the size of a U.S. company's
foreign affiliates. Under this final rule, the exemption level for the
BE-577 survey is raised from $15 million to $20 million. Thus, if an
affiliate is owned 10 percent or more by the U.S. company and has
assets, sales, or net income greater than $20 million (positive or
negative), it will have to be reported. If the affiliate does not meet
these criteria, a report is not required. The last time the exemption
level was raised was May 1, 1986.
Raising the exemption level lowers the number of reports that
otherwise must be filed, thus reducing the reporting and processing
burdens. The changes in exemption level will be implemented beginning
with the reports for the first quarter of 1995.
BEA has made changes to the BE-577 survey form in addition to the
raising of the exemption level. These changes, however, did not require
rule changes and are not reflected in the final rule. They are a result
of changes made to the related BE-10. Benchmark Survey of U.S. Direct
Investment Abroad--1994. They include the combination of two items that
appeared on the 1994 BE-577 survey and the addition of other items that
are on the 1994 BE-10 but were not on the 1994 BE-577. Added to the
form are items, to be completed annually, on services transactions
between U.S. Reporters and their foreign affiliates by type and an
item, to be completed quarterly by affiliates classified in banking, on
the U.S. Reporter's share of the affiliate's provision for loan losses.
Also, changes in the survey instructions are being made primarily for
purposes of clarification and to reflect the combination or addition of
items.
In response to the notice of proposed rulemaking, one letter of
comment was received. It expressed concern that the new items on
services transactions would impose additional burden by requiring
modification of information systems and more time to complete the
survey forms. The new items must be completed only annually, and the
first time they will need to be completed will not be until the second
quarter following the end of affiliates' fiscal year 1995, which in
most cases will be mid-1996. This will give companies at least a year
to implement program changes necessary to report this information.
Executive Order 12612
This final rule does not contain policies with Federalism
implications sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism
assessment under E.O. 12612.
Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information required in this final rule has been
approved by OMB (OMB No. 0608-0004).
The public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to be 1.15 hours per response (form). The burden on the U.S.
Reporter will vary depending on the number of forms that must be
submitted in a given reporting period; this ranges from 1 to 225 forms.
The estimated burden of 1.15 hours per form includes the time for
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and
maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the
collection of information. Comments from the public regarding the
burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information
should be addressed to: Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BE-1),
U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; and to the Office of
Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503, Attention: Desk Officer
for the Department of Commerce.
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation,
Department of Commerce, has certified to the Chief Counsel for
Advocacy, Small Business Administration, under the provisions of the
Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 606(b)), that this final rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. Because it raises the exemption level for filing the survey,
it will actually reduce the reporting requirements of smaller entities.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 806
Balance of payments, Economic statistics, Foreign investments in
United States, Penalties, Reporting and [[Page 10490]] recordkeeping
requirements, United States investments abroad.
Dated: February 2, 1995.
Carol S. Carson,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR Part
806 as follows:
PART 806--DIRECT INVESTMENT SURVEYS
1. The authority citation for 15 CFR Part 806 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108; and E.O. 11961 (3
CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86), as amended by E.O. 12013 (3 CFR, 1977
Comp., p. 147), E.O. 12318 (3 CFR, 1981 Comp., p. 173), and E.O.
12518 (3 CFR, 1985 Comp., p. 348).
Sec. 806.14 [Amended]
2. Section 806.14(e) is amended by removing ``$15,000,000'' and
adding ``$20,000,000'' in its place.
[FR Doc. 95-4631 Filed 2-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-EA-M
