Agencies and Commissions December 17, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission is noticing a recent Postal Service filing for the Commission's consideration concerning a negotiated service agreement. This notice informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) invites comment on a proposal to implement the New Hire Information Collection (FR 27; OMB No. 7100-new).

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission (``the Commission'') has determined to institute a rescission proceeding, to rescind a limited exclusion order and two cease-and-desist orders, and to terminate the rescission proceeding.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Postal Service gives notice of filing a request with the Postal Regulatory Commission to add a domestic shipping services contract to the list of Negotiated Service Agreements in the Mail Classification Schedule's Competitive Products List.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC or Commission) is revising its interpretation of the scope of the Shipping Act prohibition against failing to establish, observe, and enforce just and reasonable regulations and practices relating to or connected with receiving, handling, storing, or delivering property. Specifically, the Commission is clarifying that the proper scope of that prohibition in the Shipping Act of 1984 and the conduct covered by it is guided by the Commission's interpretation and precedent articulated in several earlier Commission cases, which require that a regulated entity engage in a practice or regulation on a normal, customary, and continuous basis and that such practice or regulation is unjust or unreasonable in order to violate that section of the Shipping Act.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') in furtherance of the LabCFTC initiative is seeking public comment and feedback on this Request for Input (``RFI'') in order to better inform the Commission's understanding of the technology, mechanics, and markets for virtual currencies beyond Bitcoin, namely here Ether and its use on the Ethereum Network. The Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') grants the Commission regulatory authority over the commodity futures markets. The Commission is seeking public feedback in furtherance of oversight of these markets and regulatory policy development. The input from this request will advance the CFTC's mission of ensuring the integrity of the derivatives markets as well as monitoring and reducing systemic risk by enhancing legal certainty in the markets. The RFI seeks to understand similarities and distinctions between certain virtual currencies, including here Ether and Bitcoin, as well as Ether-specific opportunities, challenges, and risks. The Commission welcomes all public comments on these and related issues.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC or Commission) proposes to amend its rules governing licensing, financial responsibility requirements, and general duties for ocean transportation intermediaries (OTIs). The proposed changes are mainly administrative and procedural.

On February 14, 2018, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) proposed changes to existing regulations under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, as amended, for the following Senior Corps programs: Foster Grandparent Program (FGP), Senior Companion Program (SCP), and the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). The final rule will increase flexibility in program administration while maintaining accountability at the local level, correct grammatical errors, update terminology and streamline requirements for more effective administration of projects in local communities.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (together, the agencies) are inviting public comment on a proposal that would implement a new approach for calculating the exposure amount of derivative contracts under the agencies' regulatory capital rule. The proposed approach, called the standardized approach for counterparty credit risk (SA-CCR), would replace the current exposure methodology (CEM) as an additional methodology for calculating advanced approaches total risk-weighted assets under the capital rule. An advanced approaches banking organization also would be required to use SA-CCR to calculate its standardized total risk-weighted assets; a non-advanced approaches banking organization could elect to use either CEM or SA-CCR for calculating its standardized total risk-weighted assets. In addition, the proposal would modify other aspects of the capital rule to account for the proposed implementation of SA-CCR. Specifically, the proposal would require an advanced approaches banking organization to use SA-CCR with some adjustments to determine the exposure amount of derivative contracts for calculating total leverage exposure (the denominator of the supplementary leverage ratio). The proposal also would incorporate SA-CCR into the cleared transactions framework and would make other amendments, generally with respect to cleared transactions. The proposed introduction of SA-CCR would indirectly affect the Board's single counterparty credit limit rule, along with other rules. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also is proposing to update cross-references to CEM and add SA-CCR as an option for determining exposure amounts for derivative contracts in its lending limit rules.