Position Limits for Derivatives and Aggregation of Positions, 10022-10026 [2015-03834]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules
reimbursement of research and
development costs, maintenance costs,
or user fees.
(n) For purposes of this section, rights
to, or obligations of, research and
development cost reimbursement,
maintenance cost reimbursement, or
user fees cannot be transferred from any
individual or entity unless specifically
approved in writing by the Board.
(o) Applicants requesting
reimbursement for research and
development costs, maintenance costs,
or user fees, may present their request
in person to the Board prior to
consideration for approval.
(p) Index-based weather plans of
insurance are not eligible for
reimbursement from FCIC for
maintenance costs or research and
development costs. Submitters of
approved index-based weather plans of
insurance may collect user fees from
other approved insurance providers in
accordance with Procedures Handbook
17050—Approved Procedures for
Submission of Index-based Weather
Plans of Insurance.
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§ 400.713 Non-reinsured supplemental
(NRS) policy.
(a) Unless otherwise specified by
FCIC, any NRS policy that covers the
same agricultural commodity as any
policy reinsured by FCIC under the Act
must be provided to RMA to ensure it
does not shift any loss under the FCIC
reinsured policy. Failure to provide
such NRS policy or endorsement to
RMA prior to its issuance shall result in
the denial of reinsurance, A&O subsidy
and risk subsidy on the underlying FCIC
reinsured policy for which such NRS
policy was sold.
(b) Three hard copies, and an
electronic copy in a format approved by
RMA, of the new or revised NRS policy
and related materials must be submitted
at least 150 days prior to the first sales
closing date applicable to the NRS
policy. At a minimum, examples that
demonstrate how liability and
indemnities are determined under
differing scenarios must be included.
(1) Hard copies of the NRS must be
sent to the Deputy Administrator for
Product Management (or successor),
USDA/Risk Management Agency,
Beacon Facility Mail Stop 0812, 9240
Troost Ave., Kansas City, MO 64131–
3055.
(2) Electronic copies of the NRS must
be sent to the Deputy Administrator for
Product Management (or successor) at
DeputyAdministrator@rma.usda.gov.
(c) RMA will review the NRS policy.
If any of the conditions found in
paragraphs (c)(1) through (5) of this
section are found to occur, FCIC will
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deny reinsurance, A&O subsidy and risk
subsidy on the underlying FCIC
reinsured policy for which such NRS
policy was sold.
(1) If the NRS policy materially
increases or shifts risk to the underlying
policy or plan of insurance reinsured by
FCIC.
(i) An NRS policy will be considered
to materially increase or shift risk to the
underlying policy or plan of insurance
reinsured by FCIC if it creates an
incentive for moral hazard such as a
financial incentive to increase the
number or size of losses or, allows for
aggregate indemnities in excess of the
expected value of the insured
commodity.
(ii) The NRS must include language
that clearly states no indemnity will be
paid in excess of the initial value of the
insured commodity.
(2) The NRS reduces or limits the
rights of the insured with respect to the
underlying policy or plan of insurance
reinsured by FCIC. An NRS policy will
be considered to reduce or limit the
rights of the insured with respect to the
underlying policy or plan of insurance
if it alters the terms or conditions of the
underlying policy or otherwise
preempts procedures issued by FCIC.
(3) The NRS disrupts the marketplace.
An NRS policy will be considered to
disrupt the marketplace if it encourages
planting more acres of the insured
commodity in excess of normal market
demand, adversely affects the sales or
administration of reinsured policies,
undermines producers’ confidence in
the Federal crop insurance program, or
harms public perception of the Federal
crop insurance program.
(4) The NRS is an impermissible
rebate. An NRS may be considered to be
an impermissible rebate if FCIC
determines that the premium rates
charged are insufficient to cover the
expected losses and a reasonable reserve
or it offers other benefits that are
generally provided at a cost.
(5) The NRS policy is conditioned
upon or provides incentive for the
purchase of the underlying policy or
plan of insurance reinsured by FCIC
with a specific agent or approved
insurance provider.
(d) RMA will respond not less than 60
days before the first sales closing date or
provide notice why RMA is unable to
respond within the time frame allotted.
(e) NRS policies reviewed by RMA
will not need to be submitted for a five
year period unless a change is made to
the NRS or the underlying policy or the
loss ratio for the NRS policy exceeds
2.0. Once any changes are made to
either policy or the five year period has
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concluded, the NRS must be
resubmitted for review.
Signed in Washington, DC, on February 13,
2015.
Brandon Willis,
Manager, Federal Crop Insurance
Corporation.
[FR Doc. 2015–03604 Filed 2–23–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–08–P
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING
COMMISSION
17 CFR Parts 1, 15, 17, 19, 32, 37, 38,
140, and 150
RIN 3038–AD99; 3038–AD82
Position Limits for Derivatives and
Aggregation of Positions
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking;
provision of Table 11a; and reopening of
comment periods.
AGENCY:
On December 12, 2013, the
Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) published
in the Federal Register a notice of
proposed rulemaking (the ‘‘Position
Limits Proposal’’) to establish
speculative position limits for 28
exempt and agricultural commodity
futures and options contracts and the
physical commodity swaps that are
economically equivalent to such
contracts. On November 15, 2013, the
Commission published in the Federal
Register a notice of proposed
rulemaking (the ‘‘Aggregation
Proposal’’) to amend existing
regulations setting out the Commission’s
policy for aggregation under its position
limits regime. The Commission’s Energy
and Environmental Markets Advisory
Committee has scheduled a public
meeting to be held on February 26,
2015, which will consider, among other
matters, exemptions for bona fide
hedging positions. In conjunction with
the meeting of the Commission’s Energy
and Environmental Markets Advisory
Committee, the Commission will post
an agenda and associated materials, if
any, on the Commission’s Web site;
additionally, access to a video webcast
of the meeting will be added to the Web
site. In addition, and in connection with
the meeting, the Commission is
providing counts of the unique persons
over percentages of the 28 proposed
position limit levels (currently provided
in Table 11 of the Position Limits
Proposal based on counts from the
period of January 1, 2011, to December
31, 2012 period) in a new table, Table
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules
11a, based on counts from the period of
January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.
To provide commenters with a
sufficient period of time to respond to
questions raised and points made at the
Energy and Environmental Markets
Committee meeting, as well as to
provide an opportunity to comment on
Table 11a, the Commission will reopen
the comment periods for an additional
30 days. The Commission is providing
notice that comments may be made on
the issues addressed at the meeting or
in the associated materials posted to the
Commission’s Web site, as they pertain
to energy commodities. Furthermore,
comments may be made on Table 11a,
showing counts of the unique persons
over percentages of the 28 proposed
position limit levels based on counts
from the period of January 1, 2013, to
December 31, 2014.
DATES: The comment periods for the
Aggregation Proposal published
November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and
for the Position Limits Proposal
published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR
75680, will reopen on February 26,
2015, and will close on March 28, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by RIN 3038–AD99 for the
Position Limits Proposal or RIN 3038–
AD82 for the Aggregation Proposal, by
any of the following methods:
• Agency Web site: https://
comments.cftc.gov;
• 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; or
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow
instructions for submitting comments.
Please submit your comments using
only one method. All comments must be
submitted in English, or if not,
accompanied by an English translation.
Comments will be posted as received to
https://www.cftc.gov. You should submit
only information that you wish to make
available publicly. If you wish the
Commission to consider information
that may be exempt from disclosure
under the Freedom of Information Act,
a petition for confidential treatment of
the exempt information may be
submitted under § 145.9 of the
Commission’s regulations (17 CFR
145.9).
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
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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:
Stephen Sherrod, Senior Economist,
Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418–
5452, ssherrod@cftc.gov; or Riva Spear
Adriance, Senior Special Counsel,
Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418–
5494, radriance@cftc.gov; Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, Three
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20581.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Commission has long established
and enforced speculative position limits
for futures and options contracts on
various agricultural commodities as
authorized by the Commodity Exchange
Act (‘‘CEA’’).1 The part 150 position
limits regime 2 generally includes three
components: (1) the level of the limits,
which set a threshold that restricts the
number of speculative positions that a
person may hold in the spot-month,
individual month, and all months
combined,3 (2) exemptions for positions
that constitute bona fide hedging
transactions and certain other types of
transactions,4 and (3) rules to determine
which accounts and positions a person
must aggregate for the purpose of
determining compliance with the
position limit levels.5 The Position
Limits Proposal generally sets out
proposed changes to the first and
second components of the position
limits regime and would establish
speculative position limits for 28
exempt and agricultural commodity
futures and option contracts, and
physical commodity swaps that are
‘‘economically equivalent’’ to such
contracts (as such term is used in CEA
section 4a(a)(5)).6 The Aggregation
Proposal generally sets out proposed
changes to the third component of the
position limits regime.7
17
U.S.C. 1 et seq.
17 CFR part 150. Part 150 of the
Commission’s regulations establishes federal
position limits on futures and option contracts in
nine enumerated agricultural commodities.
3 See 17 CFR 150.2.
4 See 17 CFR 150.3.
5 See 17 CFR 150.4.
6 See Position Limits for Derivatives, 78 FR 75680
(Dec. 12, 2013).
7 See Aggregation of Positions, 78 FR 68946 (Nov.
15, 2013).
2 See
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10023
The Commission published the
Position Limits Proposal and the
Aggregation Proposal separately because
it believes that the proposed
amendments regarding aggregation of
positions could be appropriate
regardless of whether the Position
Limits Proposal is finalized.8 If the
Aggregation Proposal is finalized first,
the modifications would apply to the
current position limits regime for
futures and option contracts on nine
enumerated agricultural commodities. If
the Position Limits Proposal is
subsequently finalized, the
modifications in the Aggregation
Proposal would apply to the position
limits regime for 28 exempt and
agricultural commodity futures and
options contracts and the physical
commodity swaps that are economically
equivalent to such contracts.
In order to provide interested parties
with an opportunity to comment on the
Aggregation Proposal during the
comment period on the Position Limits
Proposal, the Commission extended the
comment period for the Aggregation
Proposal to February 10, 2014, the same
end date as the comment period for the
Position Limits Proposal.9
Subsequent to publication of the
Position Limits Proposal and the
Aggregation Proposal, the Commission
directed staff to schedule a June 19,
2014, public roundtable to consider
certain issues regarding position limits
for physical commodity derivatives. The
roundtable focused on hedges of a
physical commodity by a commercial
enterprise, including gross hedging,
cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory
hedging, and the process for obtaining a
non-enumerated exemption. Discussion
included the setting of spot month
limits in physical-delivery and cashsettled contracts and a conditional spotmonth limit exemption. Further, the
roundtable included discussion of: The
aggregation exemption for certain
ownership interests of greater than 50
percent in an owned entity; and
aggregation based on substantially
identical trading strategies. As well, the
Commission invited comment on
whether to provide parity for wheat
contracts in non-spot month limits. In
conjunction with the roundtable, staff
questions regarding these topics were
posted on the Commission’s Web site.
To provide commenters with a
sufficient period of time to respond to
questions raised and points made at the
roundtable, the Commission published a
document in the Federal Register on
May 29, 2014 (79 FR 30762), reopening
8 See
9 See
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id. at 68947.
79 FR 2394 (Jan. 14, 2014).
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules
the comment periods for the Position
Limit Proposal and the Aggregation
Proposal for three weeks, from June 12,
2014 to July 3, 2014. The Commission
published a document in the Federal
Register on July 3, 2014 (79 FR 37973),
further extending the comment periods
to August 4, 2014.
The Commission’s Agricultural
Advisory Committee met on December
9, 2014. The agenda adopted for the
meeting included consideration, among
other matters, of two issues associated
with the Position Limits rulemaking:
Deliverable supply and exemptions for
bona fide hedging positions. In
conjunction with the meeting of the
Commission’s Agricultural Advisory
Committee, the Commission posted
questions and presentation materials on
the Commission’s Web site;
additionally, access to a video webcast
of the meeting was added to the Web
site.10 To provide interested persons
with a sufficient period of time to
respond to questions raised and points
made at the Agricultural Advisory
Committee meeting, the Commission
reopened both the Position Limit
Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal
for an additional 45-day comment
period.11
Comment letters received on the
Position Limits Proposal are available at
https://comments.cftc.gov/
PublicComments/
CommentList.aspx?id=1436. Comment
letters received on the Aggregation
Proposal are available at https://
comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/
CommentList.aspx?id=1427.
II. Reopening of Comment Period
The Commission’s Energy and
Environmental Markets Advisory
Committee has scheduled a meeting on
February 26, 2015. The agenda adopted
for the meeting includes consideration
of exemptions for bona fide hedging
positions. In conjunction with the
meeting of the Commission’s Energy
and Environmental Markets Advisory
Committee, the Commission will post
associated materials on the
Commission’s Web site; additionally,
access to a video webcast of the meeting
will be added to the Web site. To
provide interested persons with a
sufficient period of time to respond to
questions raised and points made at the
Energy and Environmental Markets
Advisory Committee meeting, the
Commission is reopening both the
Position Limit Proposal and the
Aggregation Proposal for an additional
30-day comment period. The
Commission is providing notice that, in
addition to commenting on the agenda
issues, comments may be made on the
issues addressed at the meeting or in
associated materials posted to the
Commission’s Web site, as they pertain
to energy commodities, including
hedges of a physical commodity by a
commercial enterprise, as pertains to
energy commodities.
In addition, and in connection with
the Energy and Environmental Markets
Advisory Committee meeting, the
Commission is providing counts of the
unique persons exceeding the 28
proposed position limit levels (currently
provided in Table 11 of the Positions
Limits Proposal based on counts from
the period of January 1, 2011, to
December 31, 2012 period 12) by certain
specified percentages in a new table,
Table 11a, based on counts from the
period of January 1, 2013, to December
31, 2014. As was the case with Table 11,
to provide the public with additional
information regarding the number of
large position holders in the past two
calendar years, Table 11a provides
counts of unique persons over 60, 80,
100, and 500 percent of the levels of the
position limits proposed for 28 core
referenced futures products.13 Note that
the 500 percent line is omitted from
Table 11a for contracts where no person
held a position over that level. The
Commission notes that in addition to
commenting on the agenda issues and
on the issues addressed at the meeting
or in associated materials posted to the
Commission’s Web site, as they pertain
to energy commodities, comments may
be made on Table 11a.
TABLE 11a—UNIQUE PERSONS OVER PERCENTAGES OF PROPOSED POSITION LIMIT LEVELS, JANUARY 1, 2013, TO
DECEMBER 31, 2014
Unique persons over level
Percent of
level
Commodity type/core referenced futures contract
Spot month
(physicaldelivery)
Spot month
(cash-settled)
Single month
All months
Legacy Agricultural
CBOT Corn (C) ....................................................................
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
60
80
100
500
60
80
CBOT Oats (O) ....................................................................
CBOT Soybeans (S) ............................................................
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CBOT Soybean Meal (SM) ..................................................
10 Questions, presentation materials, and a video
webcast have been made available at https://
www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/Events/
opaevent_aac120914.
11 See 79 FR 71973 (Dec. 4, 2014). The
Commission also provided notice and clarification
that, in addition to commenting on the agenda
issues noted in the December 4, 2014, Federal
Register release providing notice of the reopened
comment period, comments could be made on the
issues addressed at the meeting or in associated
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206
147
49
4
(*)
(*)
—
127
90
31
9
53
31
materials posted to the Commission’s Web site, as
they pertained to agricultural commodities,
including hedges of a physical commodity by a
commercial enterprise; and the process for
estimating deliverable supplies used in the setting
of spot month limits, as each pertained to
agricultural commodities. See also 80 FR 200 (Jan.
5, 2015).
12 See 78 FR 75680 at 75731 (Dec. 12, 2013).
13 As is the case for Table 11, the Commission
notes that Table 11a is presented using the
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—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
12
4
(*)
—
11
6
(*)
14
9
6
—
42
12
25
7
5
—
12
8
5
18
11
9
—
54
19
proposed initial limit levels, without regard to
alternatives presented in the proposed rule. See 78
FR at 75839 for the proposed initial limit levels for
the spot month. The Commission also proposed
alternatives methods for setting initial levels for the
spot month. See FR at 75727–8. The proposed
initial limit levels for the non-spot months are
found at 78 FR 76787 (Dec. 19, 2013). The
Commission also proposed an alternative method to
establish higher initial limit levels in the non-spot
months. See FR 78 at 75734.
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules
10025
TABLE 11a—UNIQUE PERSONS OVER PERCENTAGES OF PROPOSED POSITION LIMIT LEVELS, JANUARY 1, 2013, TO
DECEMBER 31, 2014—Continued
Unique persons over level
Percent of
level
Commodity type/core referenced futures contract
Spot month
(physicaldelivery)
100
500
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
60
80
100
CBOT Soybean Oil (SO) .....................................................
CBOT Wheat (W) .................................................................
ICE Cotton No. 2 (CT) .........................................................
KCBT Hard Winter Wheat (KW) ..........................................
MGEX Hard Red Spring Wheat (MWE) ..............................
Spot month
(cash-settled)
Single month
All months
16
(*)
82
51
18
(*)
39
30
10
(*)
16
10
7
4
17
7
(*)
7
4
(*)
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
6
—
31
10
5
—
35
12
8
—
15
10
8
—
32
16
12
33
20
15
11
—
38
18
11
—
33
17
11
—
22
14
10
—
39
27
12
36
29
21
9
7
(*)
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
51
7
5
4
4
(*)
14
10
6
(*)
5
5
5
55
42
16
(*)
5
5
4
—
—
—
5
4
(*)
113
70
28
98
74
45
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
6
4
(*)
(*)
—
—
8
(*)
—
19
8
(*)
14
7
(*)
47
38
21
30
13
8
—
7
4
4
41
31
21
—
6
6
5
5
4
(*)
26
15
10
14
8
5
34
24
14
29
16
8
42
30
21
32
16
11
—
7
4
4
39
29
22
—
13
11
11
187
142
83
(*)
135
95
44
—
76
236
205
187
46
100
87
65
—
68
(*)
(*)
—
—
(*)
(*)
—
—
13
7
(*)
(*)
—
12
7
(*)
—
16
Other Agricultural
CBOT Rough Rice (RR) ......................................................
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
CME Milk Class III (DA) .......................................................
CME Feeder Cattle (FC) ......................................................
CME Lean Hog (LH) ............................................................
CME Live Cattle (LC) ...........................................................
ICUS Cocoa (CC) ................................................................
ICE Coffee C (KC) ...............................................................
ICE FCOJ–A (OJ) ................................................................
ICE Sugar No. 11 (SB) ........................................................
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ICE Sugar No. 16 (SF) ........................................................
Energy
NYMEX Henry Hub Natural Gas (NG) ................................
60
80
100
500
60
80
100
500
60
NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (CL) ...................................
NYMEX NY Harbor ULSD (HO) ..........................................
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 37 / Wednesday, February 25, 2015 / Proposed Rules
TABLE 11a—UNIQUE PERSONS OVER PERCENTAGES OF PROPOSED POSITION LIMIT LEVELS, JANUARY 1, 2013, TO
DECEMBER 31, 2014—Continued
Unique persons over level
Percent of
level
Commodity type/core referenced futures contract
Spot month
(physicaldelivery)
80
100
500
60
80
100
500
NYMEX RBOB Gasoline (RB) .............................................
Spot month
(cash-settled)
Single month
All months
49
31
—
97
67
36
—
63
44
5
57
52
37
(*)
7
(*)
—
26
15
11
—
9
6
—
30
17
12
—
12
9
4
13
9
5
9
4
(*)
9
5
(*)
11
7
(*)
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
61
37
29
22
14
10
34
20
16
12
9
4
29
18
9
62
40
30
24
14
11
32
21
16
13
5
4
29
18
9
Metals
COMEX Copper (HG) ..........................................................
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
60
80
100
COMEX Gold (GC) ..............................................................
COMEX Silver (SI) ...............................................................
NYMEX Palladium (PA) .......................................................
NYMEX Platinum (PL) .........................................................
Legend:
* means fewer than 4 unique owners exceeded the level.
— means no unique owner exceeded the level.
NA means not applicable.14
Both comment periods will reopen on
February 26, 2015, and will close on
March 28, 2015.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 19,
2015, by the Commission.
Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
21 CFR Part 310
Note: The following appendix will not
appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Appendix to Position Limits for
Derivatives and Aggregation of
Positions Reopening of Comment
Periods—Commission Voting Summary
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Administration (FDA or the Agency) is
issuing a proposed sunscreen order
(proposed order) under the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the
FD&C Act), as amended by the
Sunscreen Innovation Act (SIA). The
proposed order announces FDA’s
tentative determination that
enzacamene is not generally recognized
as safe and effective (GRASE) and is
misbranded when used in over-thecounter (OTC) sunscreen products
SUMMARY:
BILLING CODE 6351–01–P
14 Table notes: (1) Aggregation exemptions were
not used in computing the counts of unique
persons; (2) the position data was for futures,
futures options and swaps that are significant price
discovery contracts (SPDCs).
Jkt 235001
Food and Drug Administration,
HHS.
ACTION:
[FR Doc. 2015–03834 Filed 2–24–15; 8:45 am]
15:09 Feb 24, 2015
Over-the-Counter Sunscreen Drug
Products—Regulatory Status of
Enzacamene
AGENCY:
PO 00000
Frm 00019
Fmt 4702
Submit either electronic or
written comments on this proposed
order by April 13, 2015. Sponsors may
submit written requests for a meeting
with FDA to discuss this proposed order
by March 27, 2015. See section VI for
the proposed effective date of a final
order based on this proposed order.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods:
DATES:
[Docket Nos. FDA–2003–N–0196 (Formerly
2003N–0233), FDA–1978–N–0018 (Formerly
1978N–0038 and 78N–0038), and FDA–1996–
N–0006 (Formerly 96N–0277)]
Proposed order; request for
comments.
On this matter, Chairman Massad and
Commissioners Wetjen, Bowen, and
Giancarlo voted in the affirmative. No
Commissioner voted in the negative.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
Food and Drug Administration
because the currently available data are
insufficient to classify it as GRASE and
not misbranded, and additional
information is needed to allow us to
determine otherwise.
Sfmt 4702
Electronic Submissions
Submit electronic comments in the
following way:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Written Submissions
Submit written submissions in the
following ways:
• Mail/Hand delivery/Courier (for
paper submissions): Division of Dockets
Management (HFA–305), Food and Drug
Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm.
1061, Rockville, MD 20852.
E:\FR\FM\25FEP1.SGM
25FEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 37 (Wednesday, February 25, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10022-10026]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03834]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
17 CFR Parts 1, 15, 17, 19, 32, 37, 38, 140, and 150
RIN 3038-AD99; 3038-AD82
Position Limits for Derivatives and Aggregation of Positions
AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; provision of Table 11a; and
reopening of comment periods.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On December 12, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(``Commission'') published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed
rulemaking (the ``Position Limits Proposal'') to establish speculative
position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and
options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are
economically equivalent to such contracts. On November 15, 2013, the
Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed
rulemaking (the ``Aggregation Proposal'') to amend existing regulations
setting out the Commission's policy for aggregation under its position
limits regime. The Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets
Advisory Committee has scheduled a public meeting to be held on
February 26, 2015, which will consider, among other matters, exemptions
for bona fide hedging positions. In conjunction with the meeting of the
Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee, the
Commission will post an agenda and associated materials, if any, on the
Commission's Web site; additionally, access to a video webcast of the
meeting will be added to the Web site. In addition, and in connection
with the meeting, the Commission is providing counts of the unique
persons over percentages of the 28 proposed position limit levels
(currently provided in Table 11 of the Position Limits Proposal based
on counts from the period of January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012
period) in a new table, Table
[[Page 10023]]
11a, based on counts from the period of January 1, 2013, to December
31, 2014. To provide commenters with a sufficient period of time to
respond to questions raised and points made at the Energy and
Environmental Markets Committee meeting, as well as to provide an
opportunity to comment on Table 11a, the Commission will reopen the
comment periods for an additional 30 days. The Commission is providing
notice that comments may be made on the issues addressed at the meeting
or in the associated materials posted to the Commission's Web site, as
they pertain to energy commodities. Furthermore, comments may be made
on Table 11a, showing counts of the unique persons over percentages of
the 28 proposed position limit levels based on counts from the period
of January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.
DATES: The comment periods for the Aggregation Proposal published
November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, and for the Position Limits Proposal
published December 12, 2013, at 78 FR 75680, will reopen on February
26, 2015, and will close on March 28, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3038-AD99 for the
Position Limits Proposal or RIN 3038-AD82 for the Aggregation Proposal,
by any of the following methods:
Agency Web site: https://comments.cftc.gov;
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; or
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow instructions for submitting comments.
Please submit your comments using only one method. All comments
must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied by an English
translation. Comments will be posted as received to https://www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish to make
available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider information
that may be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act, a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt information
may be submitted under Sec. 145.9 of the Commission's regulations (17
CFR 145.9).
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 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: Stephen Sherrod, Senior Economist,
Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418-5452, ssherrod@cftc.gov; or
Riva Spear Adriance, Senior Special Counsel, Division of Market
Oversight, (202) 418-5494, radriance@cftc.gov; Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20581.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Commission has long established and enforced speculative
position limits for futures and options contracts on various
agricultural commodities as authorized by the Commodity Exchange Act
(``CEA'').\1\ The part 150 position limits regime \2\ generally
includes three components: (1) the level of the limits, which set a
threshold that restricts the number of speculative positions that a
person may hold in the spot-month, individual month, and all months
combined,\3\ (2) exemptions for positions that constitute bona fide
hedging transactions and certain other types of transactions,\4\ and
(3) rules to determine which accounts and positions a person must
aggregate for the purpose of determining compliance with the position
limit levels.\5\ The Position Limits Proposal generally sets out
proposed changes to the first and second components of the position
limits regime and would establish speculative position limits for 28
exempt and agricultural commodity futures and option contracts, and
physical commodity swaps that are ``economically equivalent'' to such
contracts (as such term is used in CEA section 4a(a)(5)).\6\ The
Aggregation Proposal generally sets out proposed changes to the third
component of the position limits regime.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.
\2\ See 17 CFR part 150. Part 150 of the Commission's
regulations establishes federal position limits on futures and
option contracts in nine enumerated agricultural commodities.
\3\ See 17 CFR 150.2.
\4\ See 17 CFR 150.3.
\5\ See 17 CFR 150.4.
\6\ See Position Limits for Derivatives, 78 FR 75680 (Dec. 12,
2013).
\7\ See Aggregation of Positions, 78 FR 68946 (Nov. 15, 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commission published the Position Limits Proposal and the
Aggregation Proposal separately because it believes that the proposed
amendments regarding aggregation of positions could be appropriate
regardless of whether the Position Limits Proposal is finalized.\8\ If
the Aggregation Proposal is finalized first, the modifications would
apply to the current position limits regime for futures and option
contracts on nine enumerated agricultural commodities. If the Position
Limits Proposal is subsequently finalized, the modifications in the
Aggregation Proposal would apply to the position limits regime for 28
exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the
physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such
contracts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See id. at 68947.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to provide interested parties with an opportunity to
comment on the Aggregation Proposal during the comment period on the
Position Limits Proposal, the Commission extended the comment period
for the Aggregation Proposal to February 10, 2014, the same end date as
the comment period for the Position Limits Proposal.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See 79 FR 2394 (Jan. 14, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subsequent to publication of the Position Limits Proposal and the
Aggregation Proposal, the Commission directed staff to schedule a June
19, 2014, public roundtable to consider certain issues regarding
position limits for physical commodity derivatives. The roundtable
focused on hedges of a physical commodity by a commercial enterprise,
including gross hedging, cross-commodity hedging, anticipatory hedging,
and the process for obtaining a non-enumerated exemption. Discussion
included the setting of spot month limits in physical-delivery and
cash-settled contracts and a conditional spot-month limit exemption.
Further, the roundtable included discussion of: The aggregation
exemption for certain ownership interests of greater than 50 percent in
an owned entity; and aggregation based on substantially identical
trading strategies. As well, the Commission invited comment on whether
to provide parity for wheat contracts in non-spot month limits. In
conjunction with the roundtable, staff questions regarding these topics
were posted on the Commission's Web site.
To provide commenters with a sufficient period of time to respond
to questions raised and points made at the roundtable, the Commission
published a document in the Federal Register on May 29, 2014 (79 FR
30762), reopening
[[Page 10024]]
the comment periods for the Position Limit Proposal and the Aggregation
Proposal for three weeks, from June 12, 2014 to July 3, 2014. The
Commission published a document in the Federal Register on July 3, 2014
(79 FR 37973), further extending the comment periods to August 4, 2014.
The Commission's Agricultural Advisory Committee met on December 9,
2014. The agenda adopted for the meeting included consideration, among
other matters, of two issues associated with the Position Limits
rulemaking: Deliverable supply and exemptions for bona fide hedging
positions. In conjunction with the meeting of the Commission's
Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Commission posted questions and
presentation materials on the Commission's Web site; additionally,
access to a video webcast of the meeting was added to the Web site.\10\
To provide interested persons with a sufficient period of time to
respond to questions raised and points made at the Agricultural
Advisory Committee meeting, the Commission reopened both the Position
Limit Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal for an additional 45-day
comment period.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Questions, presentation materials, and a video webcast have
been made available at https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/Events/opaevent_aac120914.
\11\ See 79 FR 71973 (Dec. 4, 2014). The Commission also
provided notice and clarification that, in addition to commenting on
the agenda issues noted in the December 4, 2014, Federal Register
release providing notice of the reopened comment period, comments
could be made on the issues addressed at the meeting or in
associated materials posted to the Commission's Web site, as they
pertained to agricultural commodities, including hedges of a
physical commodity by a commercial enterprise; and the process for
estimating deliverable supplies used in the setting of spot month
limits, as each pertained to agricultural commodities. See also 80
FR 200 (Jan. 5, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment letters received on the Position Limits Proposal are
available at https://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentList.aspx?id=1436. Comment letters received on the Aggregation
Proposal are available at https://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentList.aspx?id=1427.
II. Reopening of Comment Period
The Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory
Committee has scheduled a meeting on February 26, 2015. The agenda
adopted for the meeting includes consideration of exemptions for bona
fide hedging positions. In conjunction with the meeting of the
Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee, the
Commission will post associated materials on the Commission's Web site;
additionally, access to a video webcast of the meeting will be added to
the Web site. To provide interested persons with a sufficient period of
time to respond to questions raised and points made at the Energy and
Environmental Markets Advisory Committee meeting, the Commission is
reopening both the Position Limit Proposal and the Aggregation Proposal
for an additional 30-day comment period. The Commission is providing
notice that, in addition to commenting on the agenda issues, comments
may be made on the issues addressed at the meeting or in associated
materials posted to the Commission's Web site, as they pertain to
energy commodities, including hedges of a physical commodity by a
commercial enterprise, as pertains to energy commodities.
In addition, and in connection with the Energy and Environmental
Markets Advisory Committee meeting, the Commission is providing counts
of the unique persons exceeding the 28 proposed position limit levels
(currently provided in Table 11 of the Positions Limits Proposal based
on counts from the period of January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2012
period \12\) by certain specified percentages in a new table, Table
11a, based on counts from the period of January 1, 2013, to December
31, 2014. As was the case with Table 11, to provide the public with
additional information regarding the number of large position holders
in the past two calendar years, Table 11a provides counts of unique
persons over 60, 80, 100, and 500 percent of the levels of the position
limits proposed for 28 core referenced futures products.\13\ Note that
the 500 percent line is omitted from Table 11a for contracts where no
person held a position over that level. The Commission notes that in
addition to commenting on the agenda issues and on the issues addressed
at the meeting or in associated materials posted to the Commission's
Web site, as they pertain to energy commodities, comments may be made
on Table 11a.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ See 78 FR 75680 at 75731 (Dec. 12, 2013).
\13\ As is the case for Table 11, the Commission notes that
Table 11a is presented using the proposed initial limit levels,
without regard to alternatives presented in the proposed rule. See
78 FR at 75839 for the proposed initial limit levels for the spot
month. The Commission also proposed alternatives methods for setting
initial levels for the spot month. See FR at 75727-8. The proposed
initial limit levels for the non-spot months are found at 78 FR
76787 (Dec. 19, 2013). The Commission also proposed an alternative
method to establish higher initial limit levels in the non-spot
months. See FR 78 at 75734.
Table 11a--Unique Persons Over Percentages of Proposed Position Limit Levels, January 1, 2013, to December 31,
2014
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique persons over level
---------------------------------------------------------------
Commodity type/core referenced Percent of Spot month
futures contract level (physical- Spot month Single month All months
delivery) (cash-settled)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legacy Agricultural
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBOT Corn (C)................... 60 206 -- 12 25
80 147 -- 4 7
100 49 -- (*) 5
500 4 -- -- --
CBOT Oats (O)................... 60 (*) -- 11 12
80 (*) -- 6 8
100 -- -- (*) 5
CBOT Soybeans (S)............... 60 127 -- 14 18
80 90 -- 9 11
100 31 -- 6 9
500 9 -- -- --
CBOT Soybean Meal (SM).......... 60 53 -- 42 54
80 31 -- 12 19
[[Page 10025]]
100 16 -- 6 11
500 (*) -- -- --
CBOT Soybean Oil (SO)........... 60 82 -- 31 38
80 51 -- 10 18
100 18 -- 5 11
500 (*) -- -- --
CBOT Wheat (W).................. 60 39 -- 35 33
80 30 -- 12 17
100 10 -- 8 11
500 (*) -- -- --
ICE Cotton No. 2 (CT)........... 60 16 -- 15 22
80 10 -- 10 14
100 7 -- 8 10
500 4 -- -- --
KCBT Hard Winter Wheat (KW)..... 60 17 -- 32 39
80 7 -- 16 27
100 (*) -- 12 12
MGEX Hard Red Spring Wheat (MWE) 60 7 -- 33 36
80 4 -- 20 29
100 (*) -- 15 21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other Agricultural
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CBOT Rough Rice (RR)............ 60 9 -- 6 5
80 7 -- 4 4
100 (*) -- (*) (*)
CME Milk Class III (DA)......... 60 NA 5 (*) 26
80 NA 4 -- 15
100 NA (*) -- 10
CME Feeder Cattle (FC).......... 60 NA 113 8 14
80 NA 70 (*) 8
100 NA 28 -- 5
CME Lean Hog (LH)............... 60 NA 98 19 34
80 NA 74 8 24
100 NA 45 (*) 14
CME Live Cattle (LC)............ 60 51 -- 14 29
80 7 -- 7 16
100 5 -- (*) 8
ICUS Cocoa (CC)................. 60 4 -- 47 42
80 4 -- 38 30
100 (*) -- 21 21
ICE Coffee C (KC)............... 60 14 -- 30 32
80 10 -- 13 16
100 6 -- 8 11
500 (*) -- -- --
ICE FCOJ-A (OJ)................. 60 5 -- 7 7
80 5 -- 4 4
100 5 -- 4 4
ICE Sugar No. 11 (SB)........... 60 55 -- 41 39
80 42 -- 31 29
100 16 -- 21 22
500 (*) -- -- --
ICE Sugar No. 16 (SF)........... 60 5 -- 6 13
80 5 -- 6 11
100 4 -- 5 11
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NYMEX Henry Hub Natural Gas (NG) 60 187 236 (*) 7
80 142 205 (*) (*)
100 83 187 -- (*)
500 (*) 46 -- --
NYMEX Light Sweet Crude Oil (CL) 60 135 100 (*) 12
80 95 87 (*) 7
100 44 65 -- (*)
500 -- -- -- --
NYMEX NY Harbor ULSD (HO)....... 60 76 68 13 16
[[Page 10026]]
80 49 63 7 9
100 31 44 (*) 6
500 -- 5 -- --
NYMEX RBOB Gasoline (RB)........ 60 97 57 26 30
80 67 52 15 17
100 36 37 11 12
500 -- (*) -- --
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metals
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COMEX Copper (HG)............... 60 12 -- 61 62
80 9 -- 37 40
100 4 -- 29 30
COMEX Gold (GC)................. 60 13 -- 22 24
80 9 -- 14 14
100 5 -- 10 11
COMEX Silver (SI)............... 60 9 -- 34 32
80 4 -- 20 21
100 (*) -- 16 16
NYMEX Palladium (PA)............ 60 9 -- 12 13
80 5 -- 9 5
100 (*) -- 4 4
NYMEX Platinum (PL)............. 60 11 -- 29 29
80 7 -- 18 18
100 (*) -- 9 9
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legend:
* means fewer than 4 unique owners exceeded the level.
-- means no unique owner exceeded the level.
NA means not applicable.\14\
Both comment periods will reopen on February 26, 2015, and will
close on March 28, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ Table notes: (1) Aggregation exemptions were not used in
computing the counts of unique persons; (2) the position data was
for futures, futures options and swaps that are significant price
discovery contracts (SPDCs).
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 19, 2015, by the
Commission.
Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,
Secretary of the Commission.
Note: The following appendix will not appear in the Code of
Federal Regulations.
Appendix to Position Limits for Derivatives and Aggregation of
Positions Reopening of Comment Periods--Commission Voting Summary
On this matter, Chairman Massad and Commissioners Wetjen, Bowen,
and Giancarlo voted in the affirmative. No Commissioner voted in the
negative.
[FR Doc. 2015-03834 Filed 2-24-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P
