Direct Investment Surveys: BE-15, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States

This final rule amends regulations of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce (BEA) to change the reporting requirements for the BE-15, Annual Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. The BE-15 survey is conducted annually and is a sample survey that obtains financial and operating data on U.S. affiliates of foreign companies. BEA is adding and deleting items on the survey forms and changing the reporting criteria. The changes to the BE-15 annual survey will: reduce detail and raise reporting thresholds; extend the coverage of the survey to include banks; bring the survey forms and instructions into conformity with the 2007 BE-12, Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States; and implement changes related to new accounting standards.