Agencies and Commissions April 20, 2020 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announces that on May 7, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee (EEMAC) will hold a public meeting. At this meeting, the EEMAC will hear remarks on the Commission's Position Limits for Derivatives proposed rule as approved by the Commission on January 30, 2020. The agenda for this meeting will be available to the public and posted on the Commission's website at https://www.cftc.gov. Instructions for public access to the live audio feed of the meeting will also be posted on the Commission's website. In the event that the time, date, or place of this meeting changes, an announcement of the change, along with the new time, date, or place of the meeting, will be posted on the Commission's website.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing plans to request clearance of this collection. In accordance with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, we are providing opportunity for public comment on this action. After obtaining and considering public comment, NSF will prepare the submission requesting that OMB approve clearance of this collection for no longer than three years.

On April 2, 2020, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) posted an interim final rule (the First PPP Interim Final Rule) announcing the implementation of sections 1102 and 1106 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act). Section 1102 of the Act temporarily adds a new program, titled the ``Paycheck Protection Program,'' to the SBA's 7(a) Loan Program. Section 1106 of the Act provides for forgiveness of up to the full principal amount of qualifying loans guaranteed under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP is intended to provide economic relief to small businesses nationwide adversely impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This interim final rule supplements the First PPP Interim Final Rule with guidance for individuals with self-employment income who file a Form 1040, Schedule C. This rule also addresses eligibility issues for certain business concerns and requirements for certain pledges of PPP loans. This interim final rule supplements SBA's implementation of sections 1102 and 1106 of the Act and requests public comment.

The Postal Service is amending its Postage Evidencing Systems regulations. These changes set forth the current procedure (which may be updated based upon changes to postal regulations) to become an authorized Postage Evidencing System (PES) provider. The changes also update or create new definitions, update all references of the Office of Payment Technology to the Office of Commercial Payment, and reorganize or reword certain provisions currently in the regulations for clarity.

In January 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a consumer product safety standard for sling carriers under section 104 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA). The standard incorporated by reference the ASTM voluntary standard that was in effect for sling carriers at the time, with an additional requirement for warning label attachment. ASTM has since revised the voluntary standard for sling carriers. The CPSIA provides a process for when a voluntary standards organization updates a standard that the Commission incorporated by reference in a section 104 rule. Consistent with that process, this direct final rule revises the mandatory standard for sling carriers to incorporate by reference the updated version of the ASTM standard, while retaining the additional requirement for warning label attachment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is adopting amendments to the financial disclosure requirements for guarantors and issuers of guaranteed securities registered or being registered, and issuers' affiliates whose securities collateralize securities registered or being registered in Regulation S-X to improve those requirements for both investors and registrants. The changes are intended to provide investors with material information given the specific facts and circumstances, make the disclosures easier to understand, and reduce the costs and burdens to registrants. In addition, by reducing the costs and burdens of compliance, issuers may be encouraged to offer guaranteed or collateralized securities on a registered basis, thereby affording investors protection they may not be provided in offerings conducted on an unregistered basis. Finally, by making it less burdensome and less costly for issuers to include guarantees or pledges of affiliate securities as collateral when they structure debt offerings, the revisions may increase the number of registered offerings that include these credit enhancements, which could result in a lower cost of capital and an increased level of investor protection.