[Federal Register: November 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 229)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 69508-69510]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30no04-4]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Bureau of Economic Analysis
15 CFR Part 801
[Docket No. 040803225-4315-02]
RIN 0691-AA51
International Services Surveys: BE-80, Benchmark Survey of
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons
AGENCY: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce.
ACTION: Final rule.
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SUMMARY: This final rule amends regulations that set forth reporting
requirements for the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services
Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated
Foreign Persons.
The BE-80 survey is conducted once every five years by the Bureau
of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, under the
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act and under the
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The Benchmark Survey
will be conducted for 2004. The data are needed to compile the U.S.
international transactions, national income and product, and input-
output accounts; support U.S. economic policy; assess U.S.
competitiveness in international trade in services; and improve the
ability of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market
opportunities.
This final rule changes the reporting of data on international
transactions in financial services by: creating a new category for
brokerage services related to equities transactions; collecting total
receipts and total payments for financial services transactions with
affiliated foreign parties (that is, with foreign affiliates and
foreign parents); and revising the definition of a financial services
provider to more fully align the definition with the North American
Industry Classification System--2002.
DATES: This final rule will become effective December 30, 2004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Obie G. Whichard, Chief, International
Investment Division (BE-50), Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230; phone (202) 606-9800 or
e-mail (obie.whichard@bea.gov).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the August 27, 2004 Federal Register, 69
FR 52613-52615, BEA published a notice of proposed rulemaking setting
forth revised reporting requirements for the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons. No comments on the proposed
rule were received. Thus, the proposed rule is adopted without change.
This final rule amends 15 CFR part 801.11 to set forth reporting
requirements for the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services
Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated
Foreign Persons.
Description of Revisions
The BE-80, Benchmark Survey of Financial Services Transactions
Between U.S. Financial Services Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign
[[Page 69509]]
Persons, is mandatory and is conducted every 5 years by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, under the
International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C.
3101-3108)--hereinafter, ``the Act,'' and under section 5408 of the
Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 4908). BEA
will send the survey to potential respondents in January 2005, and a
response will be due by March 31, 2005. BEA will enact the following
changes to the Code of Federal Regulations: (1) Split the category for
brokerage services into two categories, by collecting information on
services related to equities transactions separately from other
brokerage services; (2) add questions covering total receipts and total
payments for transactions in financial services with affiliated foreign
parties (i.e., foreign affiliates and foreign parents); and (3) revise
the definition of a financial services provider to more fully align the
definition with the 2002 version of North American Industry
Classification System. The forms and instructions for the 2004
Benchmark Survey will be amended to reflect these changes to the Code
of Federal Regulations.
Survey Background
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce,
will conduct the survey under the International Investment and Trade in
Services Survey Act (22 U.S.C. 3101-3108)--hereinafter, ``the Act,''
and under section 5408 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of
1988 (15 U.S.C. 4908). Section 4(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 3103(a))
provides that the President shall, to the extent he deems necessary and
feasible, conduct a regular data collection program to secure current
information related to international investment and trade in services
and publish for the use of the general public and the United States
Government agencies periodic, regular, and comprehensive statistical
information collected pursuant to this subsection. In section 3 of
Executive Order 11961, as amended by Executive Order 12518, the
President delegated his authority under the Act as concerns
international trade in services to the Secretary of Commerce, who has
redelegated it to BEA.
The major purposes of the survey are to compile the U.S.
international transactions, national income and product, and input-
output accounts; support U.S. international economic policy; assess
U.S. competitiveness in international trade in financial services; and
improve the ability of U.S. businesses to identify and evaluate market
opportunities.
The survey is intended to cover the universe of financial services
transactions between U.S. financial services providers and foreign
persons. Reporting is required from U.S. financial services providers
who have sales to or purchases from unaffiliated foreign persons in all
financial services combined in excess of $3 million during the
reporting year. Financial services providers meeting these criteria
must supply data on the amount of their sales or purchases with
unaffiliated foreign persons for each type of covered service,
disaggregated by country, and must report transactions with foreign
affiliates and foreign parents at the global level for both total sales
and total purchases of the covered financial services. U.S. financial
services providers that have covered transactions of $3 million or less
during the reporting year are asked to provide voluntary estimates of
their total sales and total purchases of each type of financial
service.
Executive Order 12866
This final rule has been determined to be not significant for
purposes of E.O. 12866.
Executive Order 13132
This final rule does not contain policies with federalism
implications as that term is defined in E.O. 13132.
Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection-of-information required in this final rule has been
approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA).
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required
to respond to, nor shall a person be subject to a penalty for failure
to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements
of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection displays a
currently valid Office of Management and Budget control number. The OMB
number for the BE-80 is 0608-0062; the collection will display this
control number.
The survey is expected to result in the filing of reports from
approximately 375 respondents. The respondent reporting burden for this
collection of information is estimated to vary from less than 4 hours
to 150 hours, with an overall average burden of 8 hours. This includes
time for reviewing the instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing
the collection of information. Thus, the total respondent burden of the
survey is estimated at 3,000 hours (375 responses times 8 hours average
burden).
Comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this
collection of information should be addressed to: Director, Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BE-1), U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC
20230 (fax: 202-606-5311); and either faxed (202-395-7245) or e-mailed
pbugg@omb.eop.gov) to the Office of Management and Budget, O.I.R.A.
(Attention PRA Desk Officer for BEA).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The Chief Counsel for Regulation, Department of Commerce, has
certified to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business
Administration, under the provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that this final rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. Although BEA
does not collect data on total sales or other measures of the overall
size of businesses that respond to the survey, historically the
respondent universe has been comprised mainly of major U.S.
corporations. With the exemption level for the survey being $3 million
in covered receipts or payments, the reporting threshold for this
survey is set at a level that will exempt most small businesses from
reporting. Of those smaller businesses that must report, most will tend
to have specialized operations and activities and thus will be likely
to report only one type of service transaction, often limited to
transactions with a single partner country; therefore, the burden on
them can be expected to be small.
BEA received no comments on the economic impact of this rule. As a
result, no regulatory flexibility analysis was prepared.
List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 801
Economic statistics, Foreign trade, Penalties, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements.
Dated: November 2, 2004.
J. Steven Landefeld,
Director, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, BEA amends 15 CFR part 801,
as follows:
PART 801--SURVEY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SERVICES BETWEEN U.S.
AND FOREIGN PERSONS
0
1. The authority citation for 15 CFR part 801 is revised to read as
follows:
[[Page 69510]]
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 15 U.S.C. 4908; 22 U.S.C. 3101-3108;
E.O. 11961, 3 CFR, 1977 Comp., p. 86, as amended by E.O. 12318, 3
CFR, 1981 Comp. p. 173, and E.O. 12518, 3 CFR, 1985 Comp. p. 348.
0
2. Section 801.11(b) and (c) are revised to read as follows:
Sec. 801.11 Rules and regulations for the BE-80, Benchmark Survey of
Financial Services Transactions Between U.S. Financial Services
Providers and Unaffiliated Foreign Persons.
* * * * *
(b) BE-80 definition of financial services provider. The definition
of financial services provider used for this survey is identical in
coverage to Sector 52--Finance and Insurance, and holding companies
that own or influence, and are principally engaged in making management
decisions for these firms (part of Sector 55--Management of Companies
and Enterprises, of the North American Industry Classification System,
United States, 2002). For example, companies and/or subsidiaries and
other separable parts of companies in the following industries are
defined as financial services providers: Depository credit
intermediation and related activities (including commercial banking,
savings institutions, credit unions, and other depository credit
intermediation); nondepository credit intermediation (including credit
card issuing, sales financing, and other nondepository credit
intermediation); activities related to credit intermediation (including
mortgage and nonmortgage loan brokers, financial transactions
processing, reserve, and clearinghouse activities, and other activities
related to credit intermediation); securities and commodity contracts
intermediation and brokerage (including investment banking and
securities dealing, securities brokerage, commodity contracts dealing,
and commodity contracts brokerage); securities and commodity exchanges;
other financial investment activities (including miscellaneous
intermediation, portfolio management, investment advice, and all other
financial investment activities); insurance carriers; insurance
agencies, brokerages, and other insurance related activities; insurance
and employee benefit funds (including pension funds, health and welfare
funds, and other insurance funds); other investment pools and funds
(including open-end investment funds, trusts, estates, and agency
accounts, real estate investment trusts, and other financial vehicles);
and holding companies that own, or influence the management decisions
of, firms principally engaged in the aforementioned activities.
(c) Covered types of services. The BE-80 survey covers the
following types of financial services transactions (purchases and/or
sales) between U.S. financial services providers and unaffiliated
foreign persons: Brokerage services related to equities transactions;
other brokerage services; underwriting and private placement services;
financial management services; credit-related services, except credit
card services; credit card services; financial advisory and custody
services; securities lending services; electronic funds transfer
services; and other financial services. The BE-80 also covers total
receipts and total payments for the above-listed types of financial
services transactions with affiliated foreign parties (foreign
affiliates and foreign parents).
* * * * *
[FR Doc. 04-26367 Filed 11-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-06-P