[Federal Register: December 31, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 251)]
[Notices]
[Page 80367-80368]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31de08-35]
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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION
Request To Exempt Certain Over-the-Counter Swaps From Certain of
the Requirements Imposed by Commission Regulation 35.2, Pursuant to the
Authority in Section 4(C) of the Commodity Exchange Act; Reopening of
Comment Period
AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
ACTION: Notice of request for comment on exemption request; reopening
of comment period.
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SUMMARY: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') is
reopening the period for public comment to provide interested persons
additional time to comment on whether to exempt certain over-the-
counter (``OTC'') agricultural swaps from certain of the requirements
otherwise imposed by Commission Regulation 35.2. The comment period is
being reopened due to the non-transmittal of a comment letter from the
Federal eRulemaking Portal to the Commission. The purpose of the
Commission's action is to afford the commenter whose submission was not
received, the opportunity to resubmit the comment. The Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Inc. (``CME''), a registered derivatives clearing
organization, and the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.
(``CBOT''), a designated contract market, requested an exemption that
would permit the clearing of OTC agricultural swaps. Authority for
extending this relief is found in Section 4(c) of the Commodity
Exchange Act.\1\
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\1\ 7 U.S.C. 6(c).
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 21, 2009.
[[Page 80368]]
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/
http://frwebgate.access.gpo/cgi-bin/leaving. Follow the instructions
for submitting comments.
E-mail: secretary@cftc.gov. Include ``CME/CBOT Section
4(c) Petition'' in the subject line of the message.
Fax: 202-418-5521.
Mail: Send to David A. Stawick, Secretary, Commodity
Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20581.
Courier: Same as mail above.
All comments received will be posted without change to http://
www.cftc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sarah E. Josephson, Special Counsel,
202-418-5684, sjosephson@cftc.gov, or Phyllis P. Dietz, Associate
Director, 202-418-5449, pdietz@cftc.gov, Division of Clearing and
Intermediary Oversight, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three
Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW., Washington, DC 20581.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
Pursuant to the E-Government Act of 2002, Pub. L. 107-347, in
January 2003, the interagency eRulemaking Program launched http://
www.regulations.gov (the Federal eRulemaking Portal) to provide
citizens with an online portal to learn about proposed regulations and
to submit comments. The Commission receives comments through five
distinct methods, including the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
During the time from March 22, 2008 through September 8, 2008, the
Federal eRulemaking Portal experienced a software problem resulting in
the non-transmittal of some public comments. The software error
affected only a few federal agencies. The eRulemaking Program informed
the Commission that one comment regarding CME and CBOT's requested 4(c)
exemption to permit clearing of OTC corn basis swaps and corn, wheat,
and soybean calendar swaps was not transmitted from the eRulemaking
Portal to the Commission. The eRulemaking Program was unable to provide
any information regarding the identity of the commenter or nature of
the lost comment. It is the Commission's understanding that the
transmission problem has been corrected, and safeguards are now in
place to ensure this error will not occur in the future. This software
problem affected none of the other methods by which the Commission
accepts comments.
II. Specific Information
The Commission is reopening the period for public comment
specifically to afford the commenter, whose submission was not
received, the opportunity to resubmit the comment. In addition, any
other member of the public may submit a comment during the reopened
comment period. The original notice of request for public comment was
published on July 7, 2008, and the comment period closed on August 21,
2008. Please refer to 73 FR 38403 (July 7, 2008) for the original
notice and refer to the Commission Web site (http://www.cftc.gov) to
view the exemption request and comments submitted and received as of
the publication of this notice.
Issued in Washington, DC, on December 24, 2008 by the
Commission.
David A. Stawick,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. E8-31132 Filed 12-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6351-01-P