FIA EVENTS » 10/4 - 10/5 5th Annual FIA and OIC New York Equity Options Conference » 10/5 FIA Treasury & Rates Forum » 10/5 FIA Energy Forum » 10/12 - 10/14 6th Annual FIA Asia Derivatives Conference » 11/2 - 11/4 26th Annual Futures & Options Expo DIVISION EVENTS » 9/27 6th Annual FIA Chicago Golf Outing View FI Calendar NEW! FIA Urges CFTC to Work with Industry on Ownership and Control Reporting (Aug. 17, 2010) Before drafting rules to gather ownership and control information from participants in the U.S. futures markets, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should establish an “industry-wide committee” to address operational issues and other issues regarding the “appropriate design” of such a reporting requirement, the FIA recommended in an Aug. 17 comment letter. The FIA warned that the cost of developing the necessary record-keeping and reporting systems would impose a “significant burden” on futures commission merchants and noted that at present there is no industry-wide uniformity in the customer data that are being collecting or the systems used to collect and store those data. The FIA also noted that the CFTC may want to postpone action on the OCR until it can coordinate the collection of futures-related data with the data that it will begin collecting on the over-the-counter derivatives, as mandated by Congress in the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation. Click here for the letter FIA’s Forum on the Impact of Financial Reform on Derivatives Market Participants The FIA hosted a financial reform forum on Aug. 9 in New York with officials speaking from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission on the impact that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will have on the derivatives industry. The forum included several panels on a range of topics including a discussion on upcoming CFTC/SEC rulemakings, the timeline for implementing the legislation, new roles and requirements for intermediaries and traders, execution systems, clearinghouses and new capital requirements. Click Here to Access Audio and Video of This Event FIA Chicago Presents: CME OTC Account Class Briefing Webinar Wednesday August 11, 2010 Learn more about new rules, set to go into effect this fall, which will require FCMs to treat OTC derivatives as a separate “sequestered” account class. This session will also cover the operational impact. View the Recorded Webinar Here View the PDF Presentation Here FIA Statement on Passage of Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act WASHINGTON, D.C.—July 16, 2010—The Futures Industry Association today released the following statement by FIA President John Damgard following the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “The FIA congratulates Congress and the President on this historic achievement. We especially thank Chairman Dodd and Chairman Frank for their leadership in this effort and the members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and Chairman Peterson and Chairman Lincoln for all their work on the derivatives title of the legislation. In the months ahead we will work with all the regulators by providing the information they need to ensure that our markets remain the safest and most competitive in the world. As an industry, we have many challenges ahead in educating users and transforming our infrastructures. We will draw on our expertise in the exchange traded and cleared markets to help move derivatives markets to the next stage.” FIA and FIA PTG Support CFTC Co-Location Proposal (July 12, 2010) Responding to a request for comment from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding a proposed rule on co-location and proximity hosting services, the Futures Industry Association filed a comment letter on July 12 expressing its support for the CFTC’s efforts to promote transparency and fair access to the futures markets. The FIA comment letter also reflects the views of the FIA Principal Traders Group, a forum for firms trading their own capital to identify and discuss issues confronting the principal trading community. One of the group’s stated goals is to promote cost-effective, equal and transparent access to U.S. and non-U.S. markets. The FIA expressed support for the CFTC’s proposed requirement that exchanges provide equal access to co-location facilities and allow third parties to provide proximity services. The FIA asked the CFTC to consider third party sites as well as an exchange’s own co-location facility as meeting access requirements rather than the exchange facility alone. The FIA also supported requiring exchanges to publish latency data for direct connections from their co-location facilities and other access points to an exchange matching engine, but recommended against applying a similar requirement to other types of connections between market participants and third party providers of access. The latency data should cover average, shortest and longest latency and should be reported quarterly, the FIA said. The association also encouraged exchanges to ensure equality of access within data centers by establishing the same distance from rack space to matching engine throughout the data center. Click here for the letter Futures Industry Coalition Defends CFTC’s Exclusive Jurisdiction On July 8, the Futures Industry Association, National Futures Association, Managed Funds Association and CME Group joined forces to file an amicus curiae brief in support of the exclusive regulatory jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over futures trading. In the case of Brian Hunter v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Ferc alleges that Hunter’s natural gas futures trading caused a manipulation of the futures price that affected natural gas transactions within Ferc’s regulatory purview. The group’s brief argues that Congress enacted the exclusive jurisdiction provision of the Commodity Exchange Act to prevent federal and state agencies other than the CFTC from regulating futures trading in any way, a position that all federal courts have followed for decades. The CFTC itself has intervened in the Hunter appeal to reaffirm its exclusive jurisdiction over Hunter and other futures traders. Separately, the CFTC has charged Hunter with attempted price manipulation for this futures trading activity. Click here for the brief Congress Publishes Official Text of Conference Report on Financial Reform Legislation The U.S. Congress has published the official text of the conference report on H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The conference report represents the final version of the legislation as agreed to by the House-Senate conference committee on June 24. Click Here for Dodd-Frank Conference Report FIA Statement on Conclusion of House-Senate Conference Committee WASHINGTON, D.C.—June 25, 2010—The Futures Industry Association today released the following statement by FIA President John Damgard following the conclusion of the House-Senate Conference Committee on the financial reform bill. “The FIA congratulates the members of the House and Senate Conference Committee on their historic achievement and thanks the members for the hard work that went into the consideration of the conference report. This was a marathon process and it required tremendous persistence, patience and cooperation. We especially thank Chairman Frank and Chairman Dodd for their leadership in the conference, and the members of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees and Chairman Peterson and Chairman Lincoln in particular for all their work on the derivatives title of the legislation.” FIA PTG Retains Jim Overdahl as Spokesperson (June 16, 2010) The FIA Principal Traders Group announced today that Jim Overdahl, who has served as chief economist at both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has been retained as the group’s spokesman. He will be responsible for articulating the group’s views on public policy issues and improving public understanding of the role played by principal trading firms in the financial and commodity markets. Click here for the press release   Thursday, September 02 CFTC proposal to gather more data a burden: FIA (Reuters)  100  CME considering changes to grains settlement rules (Reuters)  37  Newedge backs EU drive for clearing and exchange trading (FOi)  35  US energy sector presses CFTC for swaps guidance (Reuters)  28  More Banks to Settle Derivatives Case (The Street)  25  Carbon Trading Lurches Off Course (NY Times)  25  Brussels set to give way on OTC derivatives (FT)  24  A Brave New World in Currencies? (WSJ blog)  23  CBOE Lures Street Banks, Brokers (WSJ)  23  Deutsche Bank Launches Electronic Currency Options System (WSJ)  20  UK opposed to transfer of regulatory power to EU (Financial News)  19  G.H. Financials gets remote access to Japan (FT)  18  SMX completes first trading, clearing & settlement cycle (Automated Trader)  17  Fuld Says U.S. Used 'Flawed Information' to Deny Aid (Bloomberg)  13  Meat price surge fuels fears of food inflation (FT)  12  Tokyo, Singapore Overtake Switzerland As Forex Centers (WSJ)  12  Broad Array Of Players, Simple Trades Drive Forex Surge (WSJ)  12    Wednesday, September 01 JPMorgan Said to End Proprietary Trading to Meet Volcker Rule (Bloomberg)  186  Ameritrade: Thinkorswim Platform Problems Resurfaced Tues Afternoon (DowJones)  151  On-exchange interest rate deals jump sharply (Financial News)  149  CBOE Says C2 Options Exchange Will Start in October (Bloomberg)  129  Banks in Europe Would Face Fines for Failing to Report Derivatives Trading (Bloomberg)  117  Demonised 'algos' push the surge in FX trading (FT)  110  Currency Trading Soars (WSJ)  108  JPMorgan Prop Shop Getting Chopped (The Street)  108  CFTC's Retail Currency Rules Back Off Strictest Leverage (WSJ)  99  Hints Of Change In The World Monetary System (WSJ)  99  Financial crisis boosts London's dominance in global currency trading (Telegraph)  91  France calls for stricter rules on commodity derivatives (Financial News)  90  Backlash prompts rethink on forex leverage (FT)  86  Global FX trade jumps to $4 trln a day -BIS (Reuters)  85  Europe targets commodities derivatives trade (AFP)  67  France pushes commodity derivatives trading rules (AP)  61  Focus on the meat and two veg of reform (FT)  59    Tuesday, August 31 CBOT trader banned for life, owes $4M (Sun-Times)  346  Singapore Futures Trading Competition Heats Up (DowJones)  172  CFTC Unveils Final Rules For Retail Foreign Exchange Market (DowJones)  169  US CFTC to step up release of large trader data (Reuters)  150  Lehman Derivatives Records a 'Mess,' Barclays Executive Says (Bloomberg)  148  U.S. CFTC issues final forex exchange market rule (Reuters)  144  Read More E-clips » E-clips users: Please note that these news stories are drawn from independent sources. The FIA does not verify or endorse any of these articles, and takes no responsibility for their contents. Please contact Will Acworth at the FIA if you have any questions or suggestions regarding this service. (202) 466-5460