Direct Investment Surveys: BE-577, Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate

These final rules amend the reporting requirements for the quarterly BE-577, Direct Transactions of U.S. Reporter With Foreign Affiliate. The BE-577 survey is a mandatory survey and is conducted quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce, under the International Investment and Trade in Services Survey Act. BEA will send BE-577 survey forms to potential respondents each quarter; responses will be due within 30 days after the close of each fiscal quarter, except for the final quarter of the fiscal year, when reports should be filed within 45 days. The survey is a cut-off sample survey that obtains data on transactions and positions between U.S.- owned foreign business enterprises and their U.S. parents. These final rules increase the exemption level for the survey--the level at or below which reports are not required--from $20 million to $30 million in total assets, sales or gross operating revenues, and net income (positive or negative) of the U.S.-owned foreign business enterprise. This change will reduce the number of respondents that otherwise must report in the survey, thus reducing respondent burden, particularly for small companies.