Agencies and Commissions December 10, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice advises interested persons that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has approved a request from the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for approval of an alternative arbitration procedure.

The purpose of this notice is to inform Federal agencies that FTR Bulletin 20-02, pertaining to travel, transportation, and relocation allowances impacted by recent changes to Federal tax law, has been published and is now available online at www.gsa.gov/ ftrbulletin. This bulletin contains certain examples and tables that were removed from the FTR as a result of FTR Amendment 2020-02, published by GSA on November 25, 2019, and issued as a direct final rule. This bulletin also rescinds FTR Bulletins 18-05 and 19-02 now that FTR Amendment 2020-02 has been issued, amending the FTR in line with changes to the Internal Revenue Code.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) issues this Notice describing the conditions for submitting Letters of Intent to Apply for 2020 Pro Bono Innovation Fund grants.

The Commission is acknowledging a recent filing requesting the Commission initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider changes to analytical principles relating to periodic reports (Proposal Ten). This document informs the public of the filing, invites public comment, and takes other administrative steps.

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.

On October 24, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), published in the Federal Register a proposal to establish risk-based capital requirements for depository institution holding companies that are significantly engaged in insurance activities. The Board has determined that an extension of the comment period until January 22, 2020, is appropriate.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) is adopting certain amendments containing the regulations applicable to commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs). The amendments (Final Rules) are consistent with and/or expand upon no- action and exemptive letters issued by the Commission's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO). In particular, the Commission intends to increase regulatory certainty by amending two regulations. In the first, the Commission is providing clarification that the exclusion from the CPO definition currently provided for a registered investment company (RIC) should be claimed by the entity most commonly understood to solicit for or ``operate'' the RIC, i.e., its investment adviser, and is adding an exclusion for the investment advisers of business development companies (BDCs), which share many operational similarities with RICs. In the second, the Commission is adopting amendments to the ``Reporting Person'' definition that would eliminate the filing requirements for Forms CPO-PQR and CTA-PR for certain classes of CPOs and CTAs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'' or the ``SEC'') is proposing amendments under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ``Advisers Act'' or the ``Act'') to the rules that prohibit certain investment adviser advertisements and payments to solicitors, respectively. The proposed amendments to the advertising rule reflect market developments since the rule's adoption in 1961. The proposed amendments to the solicitation rule update its coverage to reflect regulatory changes and the evolution of industry practices since we adopted the rule in 1979. The Commission is also proposing amendments to Form ADV that are designed to provide the Commission with additional information regarding advisers' advertising practices. Finally, the Commission is proposing amendments under the Advisers Act to the books and records rule, to correspond to the proposed changes to the advertising and solicitation rules.