Commodity Futures Trading Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

On July 20, 2007, the Commission published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the procedures under which designated contract markets (DCMs), derivatives clearing organizations (DCOs), and derivatives transaction execution facilities (DTEFs) (collectively, ``registered entities'') may request confidential treatment for products and rules submitted via certification procedures or for Commission review and approval under parts 40 and 41 of the Commission's regulations.\1\ Under the proposed amendments to Commission regulation 40.8, registered entities filing product and rule submissions would follow a procedure separate from the customary Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) confidential treatment procedures specified in Commission regulation 145.9, 17 CFR 145.9. As proposed to be amended, regulation 40.8(c) provided that: registered entities submitting material under parts 40 and 41 would be required to file a detailed written justification simultaneously with the request for confidential treatment; registered entities submitting material under parts 40 and 41 would be required to segregate material for which confidential treatment is requested in an appendix to the submission; and Commission staff may make an initial determination to grant or deny confidential treatment to such material before receiving a request under the FOIA. Regulation 40.8(c) is being reproposed to clarify that an initial determination by staff to deny confidential treatment may be appealed to the Commission's Office of General Counsel and that such an appeal will stay release of the material. The Commission believes these amendments, by creating a separate confidential treatment review process for filings under parts 40 and 41, will enhance the Commission's ability to provide the public with immediate access to non-confidential information.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is issuing an Order pursuant to Section 409(b)(3) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act (FDICIA). Section 409(b)(3) provides that the Commission (or one of several other authorized U.S. financial regulators) may determine that the supervision by a foreign financial regulator of a multilateral clearing organization (MCO) for over-the- counter (OTC) instruments satisfies appropriate standards. The Commission is issuing this Order with respect to the supervision by the United Kingdom's (UK) Financial Services Authority (FSA) of ICE Clear Europe Limited (ICE Clear Europe).

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``Commission'') is confirming that designated members of the Taiwan Futures Exchange (``TAIFEX'') may engage in limited marketing conduct with respect to foreign futures or options contracts within the U.S. through their employees or representatives consistent with prior Commission orders. This order is issued pursuant to Commission Regulation 30.10, which permits persons to file a petition with the Commission for exemption from the application of certain of the Regulations set forth in Part 30 and authorizes the Commission to grant such an exemption if such action would not be otherwise contrary to the public interest or to the purposes of the provision from which exemption is sought.

On November 21, 2007, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) published a proposed rulemaking to increase the Federal speculative position limits for certain agricultural commodity contracts set out in Commission regulation 150.2 (proposed rulemaking).\1\ The proposed rulemaking would have increased the single-month and all-months-combined position limits for all contracts except contracts based on oats in accordance with the formula set out in Commission regulation 150.5(c). The proposed rulemaking would have also required the aggregation of traders' positions in contracts that share substantially identical terms with regulation 150.2-enumerated contracts, regardless of whether such contracts were specifically delineated in that regulation, for the purposes of ascertaining compliance with the Federal speculative position limits. For the reasons provided below, the Commission has determined to withdraw the proposed rulemaking.

On April 23rd, 2008, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'' or the ``Commission'') published for public comment in the Federal Register \1\ a proposal to exempt the trading and clearing of products called options on streetTRACKS [supreg] Gold Trust Shares (``ST Gold Options''), proposed to be traded on national securities exchanges, and cleared by The Options Clearing Corporation (``OCC''), from the provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (``CEA'') \2\ and Commission regulations thereunder to the extent necessary for them to be so traded and cleared. The Commission has determined to issue this Order essentially as proposed. Authority for this exemption is found in Section 4(c) of the CEA.\3\

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is soliciting comment on the appropriate regulatory treatment of financial agreements offered by markets commonly referred to as event, prediction, or information markets.\1\ For ease of reference and to avoid classification issues, these financial agreements are referred to herein as event contracts. In general, event contracts are neither dependent on, nor do they necessarily relate to, market prices or broad-based measures of economic or commercial activity.\2\ Rather, event contracts may be based on eventualities and measures as varied as the world's population in the year 2050, the results of political elections, or the outcome of particular entertainment events.\3\ The Commission's staff has received a substantial number of requests for guidance on the propriety of trading various event contracts under the regulatory rubric of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or Act). Given the substantive and practical concerns that may arise from applying federal regulation to event contracts and markets, the Commission believes that it is appropriate to solicit and consider the public's comments in advance of issuing any definitive guidance.

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this notice announces that the Information Collection Request (ICR) abstracted below has been forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and comment. The ICR describes the nature of the information collection and its expected costs and burden; it includes the actual data collection instruments [if any].

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is proposing to exempt certain transactions in physically delivered futures contracts based on streetTRACKS[reg] Gold Trust Shares (ST gold futures contracts) \1\ from those provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA or Act),\2\ and the Commission's regulations thereunder, that are inconsistent with the trading and clearing of ST gold futures contracts as security futures. The proposed exemption would be conditioned on the compliance of transactions in ST gold futures contracts with the requirements established for security futures. The authority for the issuance of this exemption is found in Section 4(c) of the Act.\3\

The Commission is adopting final regulations that effectuate the following amendments to the Commission's regulations. The amendments delegate the Commission's authority to issue special calls to exempt commercial markets to the Director of the Division of Enforcement and that Director's designees. The amendments clarify the process for listing, clearing, or implementing products or rules, including dormant products and rules, and amend the definition of emergency to clarify that persons other than persons comprising a registered entity's full governing board may declare an emergency on behalf of the governing board. The amendments also amend the approval period for designated contract market rules that may change a material term or condition of an enumerated agricultural futures or options contract. Lastly, the amendments clarify how far in advance of implementation registered entities must submit self-certified contracts and rules to the Commission, and identify three additional categories of rules that may be implemented without certification or Commission approval.