Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 47951-47953 [2019-19646]
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 11, 2019 / Notices
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Change in Bank Control Notices;
Acquisitions of Shares of a Bank or
Bank Holding Company
The notificants listed below have
applied under the Change in Bank
Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and
§ 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12
CFR 225.41) to acquire shares of a bank
or bank holding company. The factors
that are considered in acting on the
notices are set forth in paragraph 7 of
the Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)).
The notices are available for
immediate inspection at the Federal
Reserve Bank indicated. The notices
also will be available for inspection at
the offices of the Board of Governors.
Interested persons may express their
views in writing to the Reserve Bank
indicated for that notice or to the offices
of the Board of Governors. Comments
must be received not later than
September 25, 2019.
A. Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco (Gerald C. Tsai, Director,
Applications and Enforcement) 101
Market Street, San Francisco, California
94105–1579:
1. The Rahman Family Trust Dated:
August 7, 1997, Yahia Abdul Rahman
and Magda Abdul Rahman, Trustees,
Altadena, California; to retain voting
shares of Greater Pacific Bancshares,
and thereby indirectly retain shares of
Bank of Whittier, National Association,
both of Whittier, California.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, September 5, 2019.
Yao-Chin Chao,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2019–19582 Filed 9–10–19; 8:45 am]
[FR Doc. 2019–19583 Filed 9–10–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection
Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
Federal Trade Commission
(FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The companies listed in this notice
have applied to the Board for approval,
pursuant to the Bank Holding Company
Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.)
(BHC Act), Regulation Y (12 CFR part
225), and all other applicable statutes
and regulations to become a bank
holding company and/or to acquire the
assets or the ownership of, control of, or
the power to vote shares of a bank or
bank holding company and all of the
banks and nonbanking companies
owned by the bank holding company,
including the companies listed below.
The applications listed below, as well
as other related filings required by the
Board, are available for immediate
17:44 Sep 10, 2019
Jkt 247001
The FTC plans to ask the
Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to extend for an additional three
years the current Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) clearance for information
collection requirements contained in the
Antitrust Improvements Act Rules
(‘‘HSR Rules’’) and corresponding
Notification and Report Form for
Certain Mergers and Acquisitions
(‘‘Notification and Report Form’’). The
current clearance expires on December
31, 2019.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before November 12, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a
comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the
Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section
SUMMARY:
Formations of, Acquisitions by, and
Mergers of Bank Holding Companies
jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, September 5, 2019.
Yao-Chin Chao,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
AGENCY:
BILLING CODE P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
inspection at the Federal Reserve Bank
indicated. The applications will also be
available for inspection at the offices of
the Board of Governors. Interested
persons may express their views in
writing on the standards enumerated in
the BHC Act (12 U.S.C. 1842(c)). If the
proposal also involves the acquisition of
a nonbanking company, the review also
includes whether the acquisition of the
nonbanking company complies with the
standards in section 4 of the BHC Act
(12 U.S.C. 1843). Unless otherwise
noted, nonbanking activities will be
conducted throughout the United States.
Unless otherwise noted, comments
regarding each of these applications
must be received at the Reserve Bank
indicated or the offices of the Board of
Governors not later than October 7,
2019.
A. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas
City (Dennis Denney, Assistant Vice
President) 1 Memorial Drive, Kansas
City, Missouri 64198–0001:
1. Cowboy Bancshares, LLC, Enid,
Oklahoma; to become a bank holding
company through the acquisition of 100
percent of the voting shares of Bank of
Kremlin, Kremlin, Oklahoma.
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47951
below. Write ‘‘HSR Rules PRA
Comment: FTC File No. P072108’’ on
your comment, and file your comment
online at https://www.regulations.gov by
following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your
comment on paper, mail your comment
to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite
CC–5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW,
5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert L. Jones, Assistant Director,
Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of
Competition, Federal Trade
Commission, Room CC–5301, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20580, or by telephone to (202) 326–
2740.
Under the
PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501–3521, federal
agencies must obtain approval from
OMB for each collection of information
they conduct or sponsor. ‘‘Collection of
information’’ means agency requests or
requirements that members of the public
submit reports, keep records, or provide
information to a third party. 44 U.S.C.
3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). As required by
section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the
FTC is providing this opportunity for
public comment before requesting that
OMB extend the existing PRA clearance
for the HSR Rules and Notification and
Report Form, 16 CFR parts 801–803
(OMB Control Number 3084–0005).
Section 7A of the Clayton Act (‘‘Act’’),
15 U.S.C. 18a, as amended by the HartScott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements
Act of 1976, Public Law 94–435, 90 Stat.
1390, requires all persons contemplating
certain mergers or acquisitions to file
notification with the Commission and
the Assistant Attorney General and to
wait a designated period of time before
consummating such transactions.
Congress empowered the Commission,
with the concurrence of the Assistant
Attorney General, to require ‘‘that the
notification . . . be in such form and
contain such documentary material and
information . . . as is necessary and
appropriate’’ to enable the agencies ‘‘to
determine whether such acquisitions
may, if consummated, violate the
antitrust laws.’’ 15 U.S.C. 18a(d).
Congress similarly granted rulemaking
authority to, inter alia, ‘‘prescribe such
other rules as may be necessary and
appropriate to carry out the purposes of
this section.’’ Id.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
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47952
Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 11, 2019 / Notices
Pursuant to that section, the
Commission, with the concurrence of
the Assistant Attorney General,
developed the HSR Rules and the
corresponding Notification and Report
Form. The following discussion
presents the FTC’s PRA burden analysis
regarding completion of the Notification
and Report Form. Under the HSR Rules,
two types of filings are made: Non-index
and index. ‘‘Index’’ filings pertain to
banking transactions which Clayton Act
Sections 7A(c)(6) and (c)(8) exempt from
the requirements of the premerger
notification program because they are
subject to the approval of other
agencies, but only if copies of the
information submitted to these other
agencies are also submitted to the FTC.
Non-exempt transactions which are
filed in accordance with HSR Rules are
referred to as ‘‘non-index’’ filings.
jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Burden Statement
The following burden estimates are
primarily based on FTC data concerning
the number of HSR filings and staff’s
informal consultations with leading
HSR counsel for outside parties.
Estimated Total Annual Hours
In fiscal year 2018, there were 4,188
non-index filings. Based on an average
annual increase in filings of 5.3% in
fiscal years 2016–2018, FTC staff
projects a total of 4,410 non-index
filings in fiscal year 2019. For fiscal
years 2020–2022, the time-period for
which PRA clearance will be requested
from OMB, the FTC projects an average
of 4,894 non-index filings per year,
assuming a 5.3% increase each year. For
index filings, staff bases its estimate on
a rough average of five filings per year
over that same interval (fiscal years
2016–2018) to project a total of five
index filings for fiscal year 2019, as well
as for fiscal years 2020–2022. Retaining
prior assumptions, FTC staff estimates
that non-index filings require, on
average, approximately 37 hours per
filing and that index filings require an
average of two hours per filing.1
On rare occasions, a transaction for
which the HSR filing is automatically
withdrawn during the merger review
process (due to the parties’ Securities
and Exchange Commission filing
indicating that the transaction has been
terminated) could be subsequently
restarted. Based on experience to date,
this would occur approximately once
every fifteen years, i.e., a historical
1 Index filings are incorporated into the FTC’s
currently cleared burden estimates, but the task of
filing a copy of information provided to another
agency requires significantly less time than ‘‘nonindex’’ filings created for filing in compliance with
the HSR rules.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:44 Sep 10, 2019
Jkt 247001
frequency of 0.067 transactions per year.
FTC staff believes that this new filing
would require the same work and
diligence as any new non-index filing.
Assuming, then, an average of 37 hours
for one transaction, when applied to a
historical frequency of 0.067, this
amounts to an annual average of three
hours, rounded up, for a withdrawn
transaction later restarted.
Thus, the total estimated hours
burden is 181,091 hours [(4,894 nonindex filings × 37 hours/each) + (three
index filings × two hours/each) + (one
withdrawn transaction later restarted ×
three hours))].
Estimated Total Annual Labor Cost
Using the burden hours (181,091)
estimated above and applying an
estimated average of $460/hour for
executive and/or attorney
compensation, staff estimates that the
total labor cost associated with the HSR
Rules and the Notification and Report
Form is approximately $83,301,860.
Estimated Total Annual Non-Labor Cost
The applicable requirements impose
minimal start-up costs, as businesses
subject to the HSR Rules generally have
or obtain necessary equipment for other
business purposes. Staff believes that
the above requirements necessitate
ongoing, regular training so that covered
entities stay current and have a clear
understanding of federal mandates, but
such training would be subsumed
within the ordinary training that
employees receive.
Request for Comments
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of
the PRA, the FTC invites comments on:
(1) Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(2) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the proposed collection
of information, including the validity of
the methodology and assumptions used;
(3) ways to enhance the quality, utility,
and clarity of the information to be
collected; and (4) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on those who are to respond. All
comments must be received on or before
November 12, 2019.
You can file a comment online or on
paper. For the FTC to consider your
comment, we must receive it on or
before November 12, 2019. Write ‘‘HSR
Rules PRA Comment: FTC File No.
P072108’’ on your comment. Postal mail
addressed to the Commission is subject
to delay due to heightened security
screening. As a result, we encourage you
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to submit your comments online, or to
send them to the Commission by courier
or overnight service. To make sure that
the Commission considers your online
comment, you must file it through the
https://www.regulations.gov website by
following the instructions on the webbased form. Your comment—including
your name and your state—will be
placed on the public record of this
proceeding, including the https://
www.regulations.gov website. As a
matter of discretion, the Commission
tries to remove individuals’ home
contact information from comments
before placing them on
www.regulations.gov.
If you file your comment on paper,
write ‘‘HSR Rules PRA Comment: FTC
File No. P072108’’ on your comment
and on the envelope, and mail your
comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW, Suite CC–5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your
comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th
Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex
J), Washington, DC 20024. If possible,
submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight
service.
Because your comment will be placed
on the publicly accessible FTC website
at www.regulations.gov, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your
comment does not include any sensitive
or confidential information. In
particular, your comment should not
include any sensitive personal
information, such as your or anyone
else’s Social Security number; date of
birth; driver’s license number or other
state identification number, or foreign
country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or
debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your
comment does not include any sensitive
health information, such as medical
records or other individually
identifiable health information. In
addition, your comment should not
include any ‘‘trade secret or any
commercial or financial information
which . . . . is privileged or
confidential’’—as provided by Section
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and
FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)—
including in particular competitively
sensitive information such as costs,
sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing
processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for
which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form,
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 11, 2019 / Notices
must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’
and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c).
In particular, the written request for
confidential treatment that accompanies
the comment must include the factual
and legal basis for the request, and must
identify the specific portions of the
comment to be withheld from the public
record.2 Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel
grants your request in accordance with
the law and the public interest. Once
your comment has been posted publicly
at www.regulations.gov, we cannot
redact or remove your comment unless
you submit a confidentiality request that
meets the requirements for such
treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and
the General Counsel grants that request.
The FTC Act and other laws that the
Commission administers permit the
collection of public comments to
consider and use in this proceeding as
appropriate. The Commission will
consider all timely and responsive
public comments that it receives on or
before November 12, 2019. You can find
more information, including routine
uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission’s privacy policy, at
https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/
privacy-policy.
Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019–19646 Filed 9–10–19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Patient Safety Organizations:
Voluntary Relinquishment for
Healthcare Quality Support, LLC
(P0050); Premier Patient Safety
Organization (P0054); QA STATS LLC
(P0140); Securus Medica, LLC (P0053);
Vascular Study Group Patient Safety
Organization, LLC (P0080); and
Washington State Patient Safety
Organization (P0060)
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice of delisting.
AGENCY:
The Patient Safety and
Quality Improvement Final Rule
(Patient Safety Rule) authorizes AHRQ,
on behalf of the Secretary of HHS, to list
as a patient safety organization (PSO) an
entity that attests that it meets the
statutory and regulatory requirements
jspears on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
2 See
FTC Rule 4.9(c).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:44 Sep 10, 2019
Jkt 247001
The directories for both
listed and delisted PSOs are ongoing
and reviewed weekly by AHRQ. Both
directories can be accessed
electronically at the following HHS
website: https://www.pso.ahrq.gov/listed.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Cathryn Bach, Center for Quality
Improvement and Patient Safety, AHRQ,
5600 Fishers Lane, MS 06N100B,
Rockville, MD 20857; Telephone (toll
free): (866) 403–3697; Telephone (local):
(301) 427–1111; TTY (toll free): (866)
438–7231; TTY (local): (301) 427–1130;
Email: pso@ahrq.hhs.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ADDRESSES:
Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality
SUMMARY:
for listing. A PSO can be ‘‘delisted’’ by
the Secretary if it is found to no longer
meet the requirements of the Patient
Safety and Quality Improvement Act of
2005 (Patient Safety Act) and Patient
Safety Rule, when a PSO chooses to
voluntarily relinquish its status as a
PSO for any reason, or when a PSO’s
listing expires. AHRQ accepted a
notification of proposed voluntary
relinquishment from Healthcare Quality
Support, LLC (P0050); Premier Patient
Safety Organization (P0054); QA STATS
LLC (P0140); Securus Medica, LLC
(P0053); Vascular Study Group Patient
Safety Organization, LLC (P0080); and
Washington State Patient Safety
Organization PSO (P0060), of their PSO
status and delisted the PSOs
accordingly, but did not previously
publish notices of their delisting in the
Federal Register.
DATES: The delistings were effective at
12:00 Midnight ET (2400) on
• February 9, 2011—Healthcare Quality
Support, LLC (P0050)
• February 9, 2011—Premier Patient
Safety Organization (P0054)
• January 7, 2015—QA STATS LLC
(P0140)
• March 2, 2011—Securus Medica, LLC
(P0053)
• February 15, 2011—Vascular Study
Group Patient Safety Organization,
LLC (P0080)
• March 2, 2011—Washington State
Patient Safety Organization PSO
(P0060)
Background
The Patient Safety Act, 42 U.S.C.
299b–21 to 299b–26, and the related
Patient Safety Rule, 42 CFR part 3,
published in the Federal Register on
November 21, 2008, 73 FR 70732–
70814, establish a framework by which
individuals and entities that meet the
definition of provider in the Patient
Safety Rule may voluntarily report
information to PSOs listed by AHRQ, on
a privileged and confidential basis, for
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
47953
the aggregation and analysis of patient
safety events.
The Patient Safety Act authorizes the
listing of PSOs, which are entities or
component organizations whose
mission and primary activity are to
conduct activities to improve patient
safety and the quality of health care
delivery.
HHS issued the Patient Safety Rule to
implement the Patient Safety Act.
AHRQ administers the provisions of the
Patient Safety Act and Patient Safety
Rule relating to the listing and operation
of PSOs. The Patient Safety Rule
authorizes AHRQ to list as a PSO an
entity that attests that it meets the
statutory and regulatory requirements
for listing. A PSO can be ‘‘delisted’’ if
it is found to no longer meet the
requirements of the Patient Safety Act
and Patient Safety Rule, when a PSO
chooses to voluntarily relinquish its
status as a PSO for any reason, or when
a PSO’s listing expires. Section 3.108(d)
of the Patient Safety Rule requires
AHRQ to provide public notice when it
removes an organization from the list of
PSOs.
AHRQ accepted requests to
voluntarily relinquish their PSO status
from Healthcare Quality Support, LLC
(P0050); Premier Patient Safety
Organization (P0054), a component
entity of the Premier Incorporated; QA
STATS LLC (P0140); Securus Medica,
LLC (P0053); Vascular Study Group
Patient Safety Organization, LLC
(P0080), a component entity of the M2S,
Inc.; and Washington State Patient
Safety Organization PSO (P0060), a
component entity of the Washington
State Hospital Association. Accordingly,
Healthcare Quality Support, LLC
(P0050—February 9, 2011), Premier
Patient Safety Organization (P0054—
February 9, 2011), QA STATS LLC
(P0140—January 7, 2015), Securus
Medica, LLC (P0053—March 2, 2011),
Vascular Study Group Patient Safety
Organization, LLC (P0080—February 15,
2011) and Washington State Patient
Safety Organization (P0060—March 2,
2011) PSOs, were delisted effective at
12:00 Midnight ET (2400) on the dates
noted above. Notices of these delistings
were not previously published in the
Federal Register.
Healthcare Quality Support, LLC
(P0050), Premier Patient Safety
Organization (P0054), QA STATS LLC
(P0140), Securus Medica, LLC (P0053),
Vascular Study Group Patient Safety
Organization, LLC (P0080) and
Washington State Patient Safety
Organization (P0060) had patient safety
work product (PSWP) in their
possession. The PSOs were required to
meet the requirements of section
E:\FR\FM\11SEN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 11, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47951-47953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19646]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection;
Comment Request
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission).
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The FTC plans to ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
to extend for an additional three years the current Paperwork Reduction
Act (PRA) clearance for information collection requirements contained
in the Antitrust Improvements Act Rules (``HSR Rules'') and
corresponding Notification and Report Form for Certain Mergers and
Acquisitions (``Notification and Report Form''). The current clearance
expires on December 31, 2019.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before November 12, 2019.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comments part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``HSR Rules PRA Comment:
FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment, and file your comment online at
https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert L. Jones, Assistant Director,
Premerger Notification Office, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade
Commission, Room CC-5301, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20580, or by telephone to (202) 326-2740.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, federal
agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of
information they conduct or sponsor. ``Collection of information''
means agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit
reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. 44
U.S.C. 3502(3); 5 CFR 1320.3(c). As required by section 3506(c)(2)(A)
of the PRA, the FTC is providing this opportunity for public comment
before requesting that OMB extend the existing PRA clearance for the
HSR Rules and Notification and Report Form, 16 CFR parts 801-803 (OMB
Control Number 3084-0005).
Section 7A of the Clayton Act (``Act''), 15 U.S.C. 18a, as amended
by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, Public Law
94-435, 90 Stat. 1390, requires all persons contemplating certain
mergers or acquisitions to file notification with the Commission and
the Assistant Attorney General and to wait a designated period of time
before consummating such transactions. Congress empowered the
Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General, to
require ``that the notification . . . be in such form and contain such
documentary material and information . . . as is necessary and
appropriate'' to enable the agencies ``to determine whether such
acquisitions may, if consummated, violate the antitrust laws.'' 15
U.S.C. 18a(d). Congress similarly granted rulemaking authority to,
inter alia, ``prescribe such other rules as may be necessary and
appropriate to carry out the purposes of this section.'' Id.
[[Page 47952]]
Pursuant to that section, the Commission, with the concurrence of
the Assistant Attorney General, developed the HSR Rules and the
corresponding Notification and Report Form. The following discussion
presents the FTC's PRA burden analysis regarding completion of the
Notification and Report Form. Under the HSR Rules, two types of filings
are made: Non-index and index. ``Index'' filings pertain to banking
transactions which Clayton Act Sections 7A(c)(6) and (c)(8) exempt from
the requirements of the premerger notification program because they are
subject to the approval of other agencies, but only if copies of the
information submitted to these other agencies are also submitted to the
FTC. Non-exempt transactions which are filed in accordance with HSR
Rules are referred to as ``non-index'' filings.
Burden Statement
The following burden estimates are primarily based on FTC data
concerning the number of HSR filings and staff's informal consultations
with leading HSR counsel for outside parties.
Estimated Total Annual Hours
In fiscal year 2018, there were 4,188 non-index filings. Based on
an average annual increase in filings of 5.3% in fiscal years 2016-
2018, FTC staff projects a total of 4,410 non-index filings in fiscal
year 2019. For fiscal years 2020-2022, the time-period for which PRA
clearance will be requested from OMB, the FTC projects an average of
4,894 non-index filings per year, assuming a 5.3% increase each year.
For index filings, staff bases its estimate on a rough average of five
filings per year over that same interval (fiscal years 2016-2018) to
project a total of five index filings for fiscal year 2019, as well as
for fiscal years 2020-2022. Retaining prior assumptions, FTC staff
estimates that non-index filings require, on average, approximately 37
hours per filing and that index filings require an average of two hours
per filing.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Index filings are incorporated into the FTC's currently
cleared burden estimates, but the task of filing a copy of
information provided to another agency requires significantly less
time than ``non-index'' filings created for filing in compliance
with the HSR rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On rare occasions, a transaction for which the HSR filing is
automatically withdrawn during the merger review process (due to the
parties' Securities and Exchange Commission filing indicating that the
transaction has been terminated) could be subsequently restarted. Based
on experience to date, this would occur approximately once every
fifteen years, i.e., a historical frequency of 0.067 transactions per
year. FTC staff believes that this new filing would require the same
work and diligence as any new non-index filing. Assuming, then, an
average of 37 hours for one transaction, when applied to a historical
frequency of 0.067, this amounts to an annual average of three hours,
rounded up, for a withdrawn transaction later restarted.
Thus, the total estimated hours burden is 181,091 hours [(4,894
non-index filings x 37 hours/each) + (three index filings x two hours/
each) + (one withdrawn transaction later restarted x three hours))].
Estimated Total Annual Labor Cost
Using the burden hours (181,091) estimated above and applying an
estimated average of $460/hour for executive and/or attorney
compensation, staff estimates that the total labor cost associated with
the HSR Rules and the Notification and Report Form is approximately
$83,301,860.
Estimated Total Annual Non-Labor Cost
The applicable requirements impose minimal start-up costs, as
businesses subject to the HSR Rules generally have or obtain necessary
equipment for other business purposes. Staff believes that the above
requirements necessitate ongoing, regular training so that covered
entities stay current and have a clear understanding of federal
mandates, but such training would be subsumed within the ordinary
training that employees receive.
Request for Comments
Pursuant to Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA, the FTC invites
comments on: (1) Whether the proposed collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency,
including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) the
accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection of information, including the validity of the methodology
and assumptions used; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) ways to minimize
the burden of the collection of information on those who are to
respond. All comments must be received on or before November 12, 2019.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the FTC to consider
your comment, we must receive it on or before November 12, 2019. Write
``HSR Rules PRA Comment: FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment. Postal
mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened
security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your
comments online, or to send them to the Commission by courier or
overnight service. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it through the https://www.regulations.gov website by following the instructions on the web-
based form. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including the https://www.regulations.gov website. As a matter of discretion, the Commission
tries to remove individuals' home contact information from comments
before placing them on www.regulations.gov.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``HSR Rules PRA Comment:
FTC File No. P072108'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex J),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex J), Washington, DC
20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by
courier or overnight service.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC
website at www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for making
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include any
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social
Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided
by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in particular competitively
sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories,
formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer
names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form,
[[Page 47953]]
must be clearly labeled ``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule
4.9(c). In particular, the written request for confidential treatment
that accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis
for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment
to be withheld from the public record.\2\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted publicly at www.regulations.gov, we cannot redact or remove
your comment unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the
requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General
Counsel grants that request.
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\2\ See FTC Rule 4.9(c).
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The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit
the collection of public comments to consider and use in this
proceeding as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and
responsive public comments that it receives on or before November 12,
2019. You can find more information, including routine uses permitted
by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, at https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
Heather Hippsley,
Deputy General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2019-19646 Filed 9-10-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P