Agencies and Commissions February 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) announces the operational date of certain rules for funding year 2020.

On November 30, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or the ``Commission'') published a ``Swap Execution Facilities and Trade Execution Requirement'' notice of proposed rulemaking (``NPRM'') in the Federal Register. While the Commission has adopted certain proposals from the NPRM, in light of feedback the Commission received in response to the remaining proposals in the NPRM, the Commission has determined to not proceed with those unadopted proposals relating to the regulation of swap execution facilities (``SEFs'') and the trade execution requirement (``Determination''). In separate final rules, the Commission adopted the following portions of the NPRM: Two exemptions, pursuant to Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') section 4(c), from the trade execution requirement in CEA section 2(h)(8); and final rules related to audit trail requirements for post- trade allocations, SEF financial resource requirements, and SEF chief compliance officer requirements (collectively, the ``Final Rules''). As such, this withdrawal does not impact or alter any of those sections of the NPRM that are being adopted in the Final Rules. In light of the Determination, the Commission has decided to withdraw the unadopted portions of the NPRM.

In this Report and Order (Order), the Federal Communications Commission declines to adopt rules proposed in the Commission's 2015 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 30 FCC Rcd 6711 (2015) (2015 NPRM) in this proceeding and, therefore, terminates the proceeding. While the Commission continues to support unlicensed white space devices and wireless microphone user operations and continues to believe they serve important interests, based on the record of this proceeding and in light of other actions it has taken during the years since the rules were proposed, coupled with the increased burden that its 2015 proposal would place on the use by broadcasters of spectrum in the more consolidated TV band that now exists following the Incentive Auction, the Commission finds that the rules proposed in the 2015 NPRM would not serve the public interest. In reaching this conclusion, the Commission finds other actions it has taken since the 2015 NPRM to support white space devices and wireless microphones are the preferred avenues for the continued support of these services. Accordingly, the Commission terminates this docket.

The U.S. Copyright Office is issuing an interim rule regarding the protection of confidential information by the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator under title I of the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act. After soliciting public comments through a notification of inquiry and a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Office is now issuing interim regulations identifying appropriate procedures to ensure that confidential, private, proprietary, or privileged information contained in the records of the mechanical licensing collective and the digital licensee coordinator is not improperly disclosed or used.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is soliciting nominations for appointment to the Advisory Committee of the PBGC.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) proposes to add a new electronic System of Records, EXIM CRM (Customer Relationship Management), subject to the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended. This notice is necessary to meet the requirements of the Privacy Act which is to publish in the Federal Register a notice of the existence and character of records maintained by the agency. Included in this notice is the System of Records Notice (SORN) for EXIM CRM.

Notice is hereby given that on February 4, 2021, the presiding administrative law judge (``ALJ'') issued an Initial Determination on Violation of Section 337. The ALJ also issued a Recommended Determination on remedy and bonding should a violation be found in the above-captioned investigation. The Commission is soliciting submissions on public interest issues raised by the recommended relief should the Commission find a violation. This notice is soliciting comments from the public only.

In accordance with its rule regarding recordkeeping for timely deposit insurance determination, the FDIC is providing notice that it has granted time-limited exception relief to covered institutions until March 31, 2022, from information technology system requirements and recordkeeping requirements for principal and interest payments held in mortgage servicing accounts for which the covered institutions act as servicers or sub-servicers. The recommended relief will provide the covered institutions additional time to remediate their servicing platforms and internal processing capabilities pending further direction from the FDIC.

In order to streamline FDIC regulations, the FDIC proposes to rescind and remove from the Code of Federal Regulations rules entitled Definitions for Regulations Affecting All State Savings Associations that were transferred to the FDIC from the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) on July 21, 2011, in connection with the implementation of Title III of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). The effective date of rescinding and removing these regulations would be coordinated with the rescission and removal of the other remaining subparts.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'' or ``CFTC'') is adopting final rules (``Final Rules'') addressing operational issues facing swap execution facilities (``SEF'') and their market participants in connection with the Commission's regulatory requirements for a SEF's audit trail data, financial resources, and chief compliance officer (``CCO'').

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively, the agencies) are adopting a final rule that implements a stable funding requirement, known as the net stable funding ratio (NSFR), for certain large banking organizations. The final rule establishes a quantitative metric, the NSFR, to measure the stability of the funding profile of certain large banking organizations and requires these banking organizations to maintain minimum amounts of stable funding to support their assets, commitments, and derivatives exposures over a one-year time horizon. The NSFR is designed to reduce the likelihood that disruptions to a banking organization's regular sources of funding will compromise its liquidity position, promote effective liquidity risk management, and support the ability of banking organizations to provide financial intermediation to businesses and households across a range of market conditions. The NSFR supports financial stability by requiring banking organizations to fund their activities with stable sources of funding on an ongoing basis, reducing the possibility that funding shocks would substantially increase distress at individual banking organizations. The final rule applies to certain large U.S. depository institution holding companies, depository institutions, and U.S. intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations, each with total consolidated assets of $100 billion or more, together with certain depository institution subsidiaries (together, covered companies). Under the final rule, the NSFR requirement increases in stringency based on risk-based measures of the top-tier covered company. U.S. depository institution holding companies and U.S. intermediate holding companies subject to the final rule are required to publicly disclose their NSFR and certain components of their NSFR every second and fourth calendar quarter for each of the two immediately preceding calendar quarters. The final rule also amends certain definitions in the agencies' liquidity coverage ratio rule that are also applicable to the NSFR.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has received a complaint entitled Certain Semiconductor Devices, Wireless Infrastructure Equipment Containing the Same, and Components Thereof, DN 3532; the Commission is soliciting comments on any public interest issues raised by the complaint or complainant's filing pursuant to the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.

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.