[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