2023-06247. 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 Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), of 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 April 26, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information collection should be submitted within 30 days of this notice's publication to OIRA, at https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain. Please find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review—Open for Public Comments” or by using the website's search function. Comments can be entered electronically by clicking on the “comment” button next to the information collection on the “OIRA Information Collections Under Review” page, or the “View ICR—Agency Submission” page. A copy of the supporting statement for the collection of information discussed herein may be obtained by visiting https://www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain.

In addition to the submission of comments to https://Reginfo.gov as indicated above, a copy of all comments submitted to OIRA may also be submitted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission” or “CFTC”) by clicking on the “Submit Comment” box next to the descriptive entry for OMB Control No. 3038-0009, at https://comments.cftc.gov/​FederalRegister/​PublicInfo.aspx.

Or by either of the following methods:

• Mail: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581.

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail above.

All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English translation. Comments submitted to the Commission should include 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, a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information may be submitted according to the procedures established in § 145.9 of the Commission's regulations.^[1] 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://www.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 ICR 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 Freedom of Information Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jonathan Lave, Associate Director, Division of Market Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, [phone]; email: [e-mail], and refer to OMB Control No. 3038-0009.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Larger Trader Reports, (OMB Control No. 3038-0009). This is a request for extension of a currently approved information collection.

Abstract: The reporting rules covered by OMB control number 3038-0009 (“the Collection”) are structured to ensure that the Commission receives adequate information to carry out its market and financial surveillance programs. The market surveillance programs analyze market information to detect and prevent market disruptions and enforce speculative position limits. The financial surveillance programs combine market information with financial data to assess the financial risks presented by large customer positions to Commission registrants and clearing organizations.

The reporting rules are implemented by the Commission partly pursuant to the authority of sections 4a, 4c(b), 4g, and 4i of the Commodity Exchange Act. Section 4a of the Act permits the Commission to set, approve exchange set, and enforce speculative position limits. Section 4c(b) of the Act gives the Commission plenary authority to regulate transactions that involve commodity options. Section 4g of the Act imposes reporting and recordkeeping obligations on registered entities and registrants (including futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, floor brokers, or floor traders), and requires each registrant to file such reports as the Commission may require on proprietary and customer positions executed on any board of trade in the United States or elsewhere. Lastly, section 4i of the Act requires the filing of such reports as the Commission may require when positions made or obtained on designated contract markets or derivatives transaction execution facilities equal or exceed Commission set levels.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.^[2] On January 20, 2023, the Commission published in the Federal Register notice of the proposed extension of this information collection and provided 60 days for public comment on the proposed extension, 88 FR 3720 (“60-Day Notice”).

The Commission received one relevant comment from Mangat Analytics, which recommended that large trader reports should specify by name who are the large traders and commercial hedgers. The Commission has determined to not require reporting entities to provide such information. The Commission believes requiring such information in large trader reports would be costly for respondents to implement and receiving such information in periodic reports would not have any practical use for the Commission in conducting effective market surveillance.

Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is estimated to be 0.25 hour per response, on average. These estimates include the time to locate the information related to the exemptions and to file necessary exemption paperwork. There are approximately 72,644 responses annually, thus the estimated total annual burden on respondents is 18,512 hours.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Large Traders, Clearing Members, Contract Markets, and other entities affected by Commission regulations 16.00 and 17.00 as well as part 21.

Estimated Number of Respondents: 350.

Estimated Average Burden Hours per Respondent: 52.9.

Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 18,152.

Frequency of Collection: Periodically.

There are no capital costs or operating and maintenance costs associated with this collection.

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

Dated: March 22, 2023.

Robert Sidman,

Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

Footnotes

1.  17 CFR 145.9.

2.  44 U.S.C. 3512, 5 CFR 1320.5(b)(2)(i) and 1320.8(b)(3)(vi).