Fees for Reviews of the Rule Enforcement Programs of Designated Contract Markets and Registered Futures Associations, 74351-74353 [2012-30224]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
requesters are limited to the cost of
providing standard duplication services
alone, without charge for the first 100
pages reproduced. To qualify for this
category, requesters must show that the
request made is authorized by and
under the auspices of an eligible
institution and that the records are not
sought for a commercial use, but are
sought in furtherance of scholarly
research (if the request is from an
educational institution) or scientific
research (if the request is from a noncommercial scientific institution).
(1) The term ‘‘educational institution’’
refers to preschools, public or private
elementary or secondary schools,
institutions of graduate or
undergraduate higher education,
institutions of professional education,
and institutions of vocational education
operating one or more programs of
scholarly research.
(2) The term ‘‘non-commercial
scientific institution’’ refers to an
institution that is not operated on a
‘‘commercial’’ basis, and which is
operated solely for the purpose of
conducting scientific research.
(e) For requesters who are
representatives of the news media, fees
will also be limited to the cost of
providing duplication services alone,
without charge for the first 100 pages
reproduced. No fee will be charged for
providing search or review services.
(1) The term ‘‘representative of the
news media’’ refers to a person actively
gathering news for an entity that is
organized and operated to publish or
broadcast news to the public.
(2) The term ‘‘news’’ means
information that is about current events
or that would be of current interest to
the public.
(3) Examples of news media entities
include television or radio stations
broadcasting to the public, and
publishers of periodicals which
disseminate news and who make their
products available for purchase or
subscription by the general public.
(4) Freelance journalists may be
regarded as working for a news
organization if they can demonstrate a
sufficient basis for expecting
publication through that organization,
even though not actually employed by
it.
(f) Fees for all other requesters who do
not fit into any of the above categories
will be assessed for the full reasonable
direct cost of searching for and
duplicating documents that are
responsive to a request. No charge will
be made to requesters in this category
for the first 100 pages reproduced or for
the first two hours of search time.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:38 Dec 13, 2012
Jkt 229001
(g) CIGIE will assess fees for searches
which fail to locate records or which
locate records which are exempt from
disclosure at the same rate as searches
which result in disclosure of records.
(h) If a fee is incurred in connection
with a request or an appeal in
accordance with this section, CIGIE will
inform the requester of the amount
owed and the basis for the fee amount.
(i) Payment for outstanding fees
incurred will be billed to the fullest
extent possible at the time the requested
records are forwarded to the requester.
Payments must be made by requesters
within 30 days of the date of the billing.
(j) In cases where the estimated fees
to be charged exceed $250.00, CIGIE
may require payment of the entire fee or
a portion of the fee before it provides
any of the requested records.
(k) CIGIE shall require full payment of
any delinquent fee owed by the
requester plus any applicable interest
prior to releasing records on a
subsequent request or appeal. If a
requester declines to remit payment in
advance, CIGIE may refuse to process
the request or appeal with written
notice to that effect provided to the
requester. The ‘‘date of receipt’’ appeal
for which advance payment has been
required shall be the date CIGIE receives
payment.
§ 9800.16
Interest charges.
For requests that result in fees
assessed, CIGIE may begin levying
interest charges on an unpaid bill
starting on the 31st day following the
day on which the billing was sent.
Interest will be assessed at the rate
prescribed under 31 U.S.C. 3717, and
will accrue from the date of the billing.
§ 9800.17
Aggregating requests.
If CIGIE reasonably believes that a
requester, or group of requesters acting
in concert, is attempting to break down
a request into a series of requests for the
purpose of evading the assessment of
fees, CIGIE may aggregate any such
requests and charge accordingly.
§ 9800.18
records concerns the operations or
activities of the Federal Government;
(2) The informative value of the
information to be disclosed: Whether
the disclosure is likely to contribute to
an understanding of Federal
Government operations or activities;
(3) The contribution to an
understanding of the subject by the
public likely to result from the
disclosure: Whether the disclosure will
contribute to the public understanding;
(4) The significance of the
contribution to the public
understanding: Whether the disclosure
is likely to significantly contribute to
the public understanding of Federal
Government operations or activities;
(5) The existence and magnitude of a
commercial interest: Whether the
requester has a commercial interest that
would be furthered by the disclosure of
the requested records; and
(6) The primary interest in disclosure:
Whether the magnitude of an identified
commercial interest of the requester is
sufficiently large, in comparison with
the public interest in disclosure, that
disclosure is primarily in the
commercial interest of the requester.
(c) CIGIE may, in its discretion, waive
or reduce fees associated with a records
request, regardless of whether a waiver
or reduction has been requested, if the
agency determines that disclosure will
primarily benefit the general public.
(d) CIGIE will waive fees without
discretion in all circumstances where
the amount of the fee is $25.00 or less.
(e) CIGIE will notify the requester
regarding whether the fee waiver has
been granted. A requester may appeal a
denial of a fee waiver request only after
a final decision has been made on the
initial FOIA request.
Dated: December 4, 2012.
Phyllis K. Fong,
Chairperson of the Council of the Inspectors
General on Integrity and Efficiency.
[FR Doc. 2012–30131 Filed 12–13–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–C9–M
Fee waivers and reductions.
(a) CIGIE may waive or reduce fees if
disclosure of the information sought is
deemed to be in the public interest. A
request is made in the public interest if
it is likely to contribute significantly to
public understanding of the operations
or activities of the Federal Government,
and is not primarily in the commercial
interest of the requester.
(b) When determining fee waiver
requests, CIGIE will consider the
following six factors:
(1) The subject of the request:
Whether the subject of the requested
PO 00000
74351
Frm 00005
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING
COMMISSION
17 CFR Part 1
Fees for Reviews of the Rule
Enforcement Programs of Designated
Contract Markets and Registered
Futures Associations
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of FY 2012 schedule of
fees.
AGENCY:
E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM
14DER1
74352
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
SUMMARY: The Commission charges fees
to designated contract markets and
registered futures associations to recover
the costs incurred by the Commission in
the operation of its program of oversight
of self-regulatory organization rule
enforcement programs, specifically
National Futures Association, a
registered futures association, and the
designated contract markets. The
calculation of the fee amounts charged
for FY 2012 by this notice is based upon
an average of actual program costs
incurred during FY 2009, 2010, and
2011.
DATES: Effective Date: Each SRO is
required to remit electronically the fee
applicable to it on or before February
12, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mark Carney, Chief Financial Officer,
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission, (202) 418–5477, Three
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20581. For information
on electronic payment, contact Jennifer
Fleming, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155
21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581,
(202) 418–5034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background Information
A. General
This notice relates to fees for the
Commission’s review of the rule
enforcement programs at the registered
futures associations 1 and designated
contract markets (DCM) each of which
is a self-regulatory organization (SRO)
regulated by the Commission. The
Commission recalculates the fees
charged each year to cover the costs of
operating this Commission program.2
All costs are accounted for by the
Commission’s Budget Program Activity
1 NFA
is the only registered futures association.
section 237 of the Futures Trading Act of
1982, 7 U.S.C. 16a, and 31 U.S.C. 9701. For a
broader discussion of the history of Commission
fees, see 52 FR 46070, Dec. 4, 1987.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with
2 See
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:38 Dec 13, 2012
Jkt 229001
Codes (BPAC) system, formerly the
Management Accounting Structure
Codes (MASC) system, which records
each employee’s time for each pay
period. The fees are set each year based
on direct program costs, plus an
overhead factor. The Commission
calculates actual costs, then calculates
an alternate fee taking volume into
account, then charges the lower of the
two.3
B. Overhead Rate
The fees charged by the Commission
to the SROs are designed to recover
program costs, including direct labor
costs and overhead. The overhead rate
is calculated by dividing total
Commission-wide overhead direct
program labor costs into the total
amount of the Commission-wide
overhead pool. For this purpose, direct
program labor costs are the salary costs
of personnel working in all Commission
programs. Overhead costs consist
generally of the following Commissionwide costs: indirect personnel costs
(leave and benefits), rent,
communications, contract services,
utilities, equipment, and supplies. This
formula has resulted in the following
overhead rates for the most recent three
years (rounded to the nearest whole
percent): 147 percent for fiscal year
2009, 153 percent for fiscal year 2010,
and 145 percent for fiscal year 2011.
C. Conduct of SRO Rule Enforcement
Reviews
Under the formula adopted by the
Commission in 1993, the Commission
calculates the fee to recover the costs of
its rule enforcement reviews and
examinations, based on the three-year
average of the actual cost of performing
such reviews and examinations at each
SRO. The cost of operation of the
Commission’s SRO oversight program
varies from SRO to SRO, according to
3 58 FR 42643, Aug. 11, 1993 and 17 CFR part 1,
app. B.
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
the size and complexity of each SRO’s
program. The three-year averaging
computation method is intended to
smooth out year-to-year variations in
cost. Timing of the Commission’s
reviews and examinations may affect
costs—a review or examination may
span two fiscal years and reviews and
examinations are not conducted at each
SRO each year.
As noted above, adjustments to actual
costs may be made to relieve the burden
on an SRO with a disproportionately
large share of program costs. The
Commission’s formula provides for a
reduction in the assessed fee if an SRO
has a smaller percentage of United
States industry contract volume than its
percentage of overall Commission
oversight program costs. This
adjustment reduces the costs so that, as
a percentage of total Commission SRO
oversight program costs, they are in line
with the pro rata percentage for that
SRO of United States industry-wide
contract volume.
The calculation is made as follows:
The fee required to be paid to the
Commission by each DCM is equal to
the lesser of actual costs based on the
three-year historical average of costs for
that DCM or one-half of average costs
incurred by the Commission for each
DCM for the most recent three years,
plus a pro rata share (based on average
trading volume for the most recent three
years) of the aggregate of average annual
costs of all DCMs for the most recent
three years. The formula for calculating
the second factor is: 0.5a + 0.5 vt =
current fee. In this formula, ‘‘a’’ equals
the average annual costs, ‘‘v’’ equals the
percentage of total volume across DCMs
over the last three years, and ‘‘t’’ equals
the average annual costs for all DCMs.
NFA has no contracts traded; hence, its
fee is based simply on costs for the most
recent three fiscal years. This table
summarizes the data used in the
calculations of the resulting fee for each
entity:
E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM
14DER1
74353
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 241 / Friday, December 14, 2012 / Rules and Regulations
An example of how the fee is
calculated for one exchange, the
Chicago Board of Trade, is set forth
here:
a. Actual three-year average costs
equal $78,553.
b. The alternative computation is: (.5)
($78,553) + (.5) (.274) ($1,340,083) =
$222,868.
c. The fee is the lesser of a or b; in
this case $78,553.
As noted above, the alternative
calculation based on contracts traded is
not applicable to NFA because it is not
a DCM and has no contracts traded. The
Commission’s average annual cost for
conducting oversight review of the NFA
rule enforcement program during fiscal
years 2009 through 2011 was $577,549
(one-third of $1,732,647). The fee to be
paid by the NFA for the current fiscal
year is $577,549.
II. Schedule of Fees
Therefore, fees for the Commission’s
review of the rule enforcement programs
at the registered futures associations and
DCMs regulated by the Commission are
as follows:
2012 fee
lesser of actual or
calculated fee
CBOE Futures .............................................................................................................................................................................
Chicago Board of Trade ..............................................................................................................................................................
Chicago Climate Exchange .........................................................................................................................................................
Chicago Mercantile Exchange .....................................................................................................................................................
ICE Futures U.S. .........................................................................................................................................................................
Kansas City Board of Trade ........................................................................................................................................................
Minneapolis Grain Exchange .......................................................................................................................................................
New York Mercantile Exchange ..................................................................................................................................................
New York LIFFE ..........................................................................................................................................................................
$17,611
78,553
497
548,855
88,143
44,642
35,730
227,640
71,111
Subtotal .................................................................................................................................................................................
National Futures Association .......................................................................................................................................................
1,112,781
577,549
Total ...............................................................................................................................................................................
1,690,330
The Debt Collection Improvement Act
(DCIA) requires deposits of fees owed to
the government by electronic transfer of
funds (See 31 U.S.C. 3720). For
information about electronic payments,
please contact Jennifer Fleming at (202)
418–5034 or jfleming@cftc.gov, or see
the CFTC Web site at www.cftc.gov,
specifically, www.cftc.gov/cftc/
cftcelectronicpayments.htm.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
14:38 Dec 13, 2012
Jkt 229001
Issued in Washington, DC on this 11th day
of December 2012, by the Commission.
Sauntia S. Warfield,
Assistant Secretary of the Commission.
PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY
CORPORATION
[FR Doc. 2012–30224 Filed 12–13–12; 8:45 am]
Benefits Payable in Terminated SingleEmployer Plans; Interest Assumptions
for Paying Benefits
BILLING CODE P
PO 00000
29 CFR Part 4022
Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
Frm 00007
Fmt 4700
Sfmt 4700
E:\FR\FM\14DER1.SGM
Final rule.
14DER1
ER14DE12.000</GPH>
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with
III. Payment Method
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 241 (Friday, December 14, 2012)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 74351-74353]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30224]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
17 CFR Part 1
Fees for Reviews of the Rule Enforcement Programs of Designated
Contract Markets and Registered Futures Associations
AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ACTION: Notice of FY 2012 schedule of fees.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 74352]]
SUMMARY: The Commission charges fees to designated contract markets and
registered futures associations to recover the costs incurred by the
Commission in the operation of its program of oversight of self-
regulatory organization rule enforcement programs, specifically
National Futures Association, a registered futures association, and the
designated contract markets. The calculation of the fee amounts charged
for FY 2012 by this notice is based upon an average of actual program
costs incurred during FY 2009, 2010, and 2011.
DATES: Effective Date: Each SRO is required to remit electronically the
fee applicable to it on or before February 12, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Carney, Chief Financial Officer,
Commodity Futures Trading Commission, (202) 418-5477, Three Lafayette
Centre, 1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581. For information on
electronic payment, contact Jennifer Fleming, Three Lafayette Centre,
1155 21st Street NW., Washington, DC 20581, (202) 418-5034.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background Information
A. General
This notice relates to fees for the Commission's review of the rule
enforcement programs at the registered futures associations \1\ and
designated contract markets (DCM) each of which is a self-regulatory
organization (SRO) regulated by the Commission. The Commission
recalculates the fees charged each year to cover the costs of operating
this Commission program.\2\ All costs are accounted for by the
Commission's Budget Program Activity Codes (BPAC) system, formerly the
Management Accounting Structure Codes (MASC) system, which records each
employee's time for each pay period. The fees are set each year based
on direct program costs, plus an overhead factor. The Commission
calculates actual costs, then calculates an alternate fee taking volume
into account, then charges the lower of the two.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ NFA is the only registered futures association.
\2\ See section 237 of the Futures Trading Act of 1982, 7 U.S.C.
16a, and 31 U.S.C. 9701. For a broader discussion of the history of
Commission fees, see 52 FR 46070, Dec. 4, 1987.
\3\ 58 FR 42643, Aug. 11, 1993 and 17 CFR part 1, app. B.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Overhead Rate
The fees charged by the Commission to the SROs are designed to
recover program costs, including direct labor costs and overhead. The
overhead rate is calculated by dividing total Commission-wide overhead
direct program labor costs into the total amount of the Commission-wide
overhead pool. For this purpose, direct program labor costs are the
salary costs of personnel working in all Commission programs. Overhead
costs consist generally of the following Commission-wide costs:
indirect personnel costs (leave and benefits), rent, communications,
contract services, utilities, equipment, and supplies. This formula has
resulted in the following overhead rates for the most recent three
years (rounded to the nearest whole percent): 147 percent for fiscal
year 2009, 153 percent for fiscal year 2010, and 145 percent for fiscal
year 2011.
C. Conduct of SRO Rule Enforcement Reviews
Under the formula adopted by the Commission in 1993, the Commission
calculates the fee to recover the costs of its rule enforcement reviews
and examinations, based on the three-year average of the actual cost of
performing such reviews and examinations at each SRO. The cost of
operation of the Commission's SRO oversight program varies from SRO to
SRO, according to the size and complexity of each SRO's program. The
three-year averaging computation method is intended to smooth out year-
to-year variations in cost. Timing of the Commission's reviews and
examinations may affect costs--a review or examination may span two
fiscal years and reviews and examinations are not conducted at each SRO
each year.
As noted above, adjustments to actual costs may be made to relieve
the burden on an SRO with a disproportionately large share of program
costs. The Commission's formula provides for a reduction in the
assessed fee if an SRO has a smaller percentage of United States
industry contract volume than its percentage of overall Commission
oversight program costs. This adjustment reduces the costs so that, as
a percentage of total Commission SRO oversight program costs, they are
in line with the pro rata percentage for that SRO of United States
industry-wide contract volume.
The calculation is made as follows: The fee required to be paid to
the Commission by each DCM is equal to the lesser of actual costs based
on the three-year historical average of costs for that DCM or one-half
of average costs incurred by the Commission for each DCM for the most
recent three years, plus a pro rata share (based on average trading
volume for the most recent three years) of the aggregate of average
annual costs of all DCMs for the most recent three years. The formula
for calculating the second factor is: 0.5a + 0.5 vt = current fee. In
this formula, ``a'' equals the average annual costs, ``v'' equals the
percentage of total volume across DCMs over the last three years, and
``t'' equals the average annual costs for all DCMs. NFA has no
contracts traded; hence, its fee is based simply on costs for the most
recent three fiscal years. This table summarizes the data used in the
calculations of the resulting fee for each entity:
[[Page 74353]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TR14DE12.000
An example of how the fee is calculated for one exchange, the
Chicago Board of Trade, is set forth here:
a. Actual three-year average costs equal $78,553.
b. The alternative computation is: (.5) ($78,553) + (.5) (.274)
($1,340,083) = $222,868.
c. The fee is the lesser of a or b; in this case $78,553.
As noted above, the alternative calculation based on contracts
traded is not applicable to NFA because it is not a DCM and has no
contracts traded. The Commission's average annual cost for conducting
oversight review of the NFA rule enforcement program during fiscal
years 2009 through 2011 was $577,549 (one-third of $1,732,647). The fee
to be paid by the NFA for the current fiscal year is $577,549.
II. Schedule of Fees
Therefore, fees for the Commission's review of the rule enforcement
programs at the registered futures associations and DCMs regulated by
the Commission are as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012 fee lesser of
actual or
calculated fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBOE Futures........................................ $17,611
Chicago Board of Trade.............................. 78,553
Chicago Climate Exchange............................ 497
Chicago Mercantile Exchange......................... 548,855
ICE Futures U.S..................................... 88,143
Kansas City Board of Trade.......................... 44,642
Minneapolis Grain Exchange.......................... 35,730
New York Mercantile Exchange........................ 227,640
New York LIFFE...................................... 71,111
-------------------
Subtotal........................................ 1,112,781
National Futures Association........................ 577,549
-------------------
Total....................................... 1,690,330
------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Payment Method
The Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) requires deposits of
fees owed to the government by electronic transfer of funds (See 31
U.S.C. 3720). For information about electronic payments, please contact
Jennifer Fleming at (202) 418-5034 or jfleming@cftc.gov, or see the
CFTC Web site at www.cftc.gov, specifically, www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftcelectronicpayments.htm.
Issued in Washington, DC on this 11th day of December 2012, by
the Commission.
Sauntia S. Warfield,
Assistant Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2012-30224 Filed 12-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
