2014-04919. Agency Information Collection Activities Under OMB Review-Notice of Intent To Renew Collection 3038-0049; Procedural Requirements for Requests for Interpretative, No-Action, and Exemptive Letters

AGENCY:

Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 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 April 7, 2014.

ADDRESSES:

Comments may be submitted to OMB within 30 days of the notice's publication. Comments, identified by “Procedural Requirements for Requests for Interpretative, No-Action, and Exemptive Letters (OMB Control No. 3038-0049),” should 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.

Comments may be also be submitted, regarding the burden estimated or any other aspect of the information collection, including suggestions for reducing the burden, identified by “Procedural Requirements for Requests for Interpretative, No-Action, and Exemptive Letters (OMB Control No. 3038-0049),” by any of the following methods:

• Agency Web site, via its Comments Online process: http://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Web site.
• Mail: Send to Christopher J. Kirkpatrick, Deputy Secretary, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as Mail, above.
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/​search/​index.jsp. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.

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. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information that 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 set forth in section 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 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 rulemaking 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:

Christopher W. Cummings, Special Counsel, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, [phone], FAX: [phone], email: [e-mail]; Jocelyn Partridge, Special Counsel, Division of Clearing and Risk, [phone], email: [e-mail]; or Riva Spear Adriance, Senior Special Counsel, Division of Market Oversight, [phone], email: [e-mail], and refer to OMB Control No. 3038-0049. These contacts can also provide a copy of the ICR.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: Procedural Requirements for Requests for Interpretative, No-Action, and Exemptive Letters (OMB Control No. 3038-0049). This is a request for extension of a currently approved information collection.

Abstract: Commission Regulation 140.99 requires persons submitting requests for exemptive, no-action, and interpretative letters to provide specific written information, certified as to completeness and accuracy, and to update that information to reflect material changes. Regulation 140.99 was promulgated pursuant to the Commission's rulemaking authority contained in section 8a(5) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. 12a(5) (2000). Regulation 41.3 requires securities brokers and dealers submitting requests for exemptive orders to provide specified written information in support of such requests. Regulation 41.3 was promulgated in response to the requirement in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 that the Commission establish procedures for requesting such orders.

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. The OMB control numbers for the CFTC's regulations were published on December 30, 1981. See 46 FR 63035 (Dec. 30, 1981). The Federal Register notice with a 60-day comment period soliciting comments on this collection of information was published on December 30, 2013 (78 FR 79408).

Burden Statement: The respondent burden for this collection is estimated to average 0.91 hours per response, ranging from 0.75 hours for preparation of a notice to 9 hours for preparation and submission of a request for a no-action, exemptive, or interpretative letter. These estimates include the time needed to review instructions; develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purposes of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information and disclosing and providing information; adjust the existing ways to comply with any previously applicable instructions and requirements; train personnel to be able to respond to a collection of information; and transmit or otherwise disclose the information.

Respondents/Affected Entities: Futures Commission Merchants, Introducing Brokers, Commodity Pool Operators, Commodity Trading Advisors, Associated Persons, Floor Brokers, Floor Traders, Securities Brokers and Dealers, Retail Foreign Exchange Dealers, Swap Dealers, Major Swap Participants, Designated Contract Markets, Derivatives Clearing Organizations, Swap Execution Facilities, Swap Data Repositories.

Estimated number of respondents: 12,428.

Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 28,478 hours.

Frequency of collection: On occasion.

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

Dated: February 28, 2014.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,

Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

Footnotes

1.  Commission regulations referred to herein are found at 17 CFR Ch. 1 (2010). Commission regulations are accessible on the Commission's Web site, www.cftc.gov.