FIA EVENTS » 9/22 - 9/23 4th Annual FIA/OIC New York Equity Options Conference » 9/23 FIA Treasury Market Forum » 10/20 - 10/22 Futures & Options Expo 2009 » 12/2 - 12/4 5th Annual FIA Asia Derivatives Conference DIVISION EVENTS » 6/17 Tech Wednesday: Exchange Technology Leaders » 7/30 FIA Chicago's 9th Annual Summer Outing (Sponsorship) » 7/30 FIA Chicago's 9th Annual Summer Outing (Individual Registration) » 9/9 5th Annual Chicago Division Golf Outing View FI Calendar FIA Board Meets with Washington Officials             The FIA board of directors met with officials from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and House of Representatives in Washington on June 24 and 25 in conjunction with its June board meeting.             At Treasury, the board discussed relevant aspects of regulatory reform including regulation of over-the-counter markets and harmonization of SEC and CFTC rules and answered questions on topics of interest to Treasury.             At the Federal Reserve, the board met with Chairman Ben Bernanke, Governors Elizabeth Duke, Daniel Tarullo and Kevin Warsh. The board continued its ongoing conversations with the Fed on risk management practices and polices.             The board also met individually with CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler and Commissioners Bart Chilton, Michael Dunn, and Jill Sommers. This first-time meeting with Chairman Gensler gave board members the opportunity to hear his views on regulatory reform proposals and pending legislation.             House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) gave the board insight on the process and timing of Congressional actions. FIA Comments on FINRA Suitability, Know-Your-Customer Proposals           The Futures Industry Association opposed suitability and know-your-customer rules proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, warning the securities industry regulator that application of these securities rules “fails to recognize the inherent differences of the structure and customer base between traditional futures contracts and securities products” and should not be applied to commodity futures trading. In a June 29, 2009 comment letter to FINRA, FIA stated that commodity futures are exclusively governed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and that under the CFTC’s delegated powers, suitability standards are set forth by the National Futures Association. “Additionally, FIA does not support the extension, without further justification, of FINRA’s regulatory reach to unrelated activities of a FINRA-regulated entity, as a matter of principle,” FIA wrote, asserting that there is a “definitive difference” in the various types of products overseen by the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Click Here for Comment Letter FIA Asks House Leadership to Strike Derivatives Provisions from Climate Change Bill        The FIA has joined with several other trade associations opposing derivatives-related provisions in the climate change bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a joint letter sent to the House Democratic leadership on June 25, 2009, the trade associations said these provisions should be considered on their own merits, rather than in the context of legislation aimed primarily at addressing energy and environmental policy. The trade associations also warned that these provisions would disrupt risk management practices and drain liquidity from the derivatives markets, and noted that the need for reform is being addressed by the Obama administration and the committees that have jurisdiction over derivatives. The letter was sent to the Democratic leadership one day before the climate change bill, H.R. 2454, was due to be considered on the House floor. The other trade associations were the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and the Business Roundtable.  Click here for the PDF FIA Urges Congress to Reject Transaction Tax             The FIA sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives on June 25, 2009 expressing strong opposition to a proposed tax on futures transactions. In the letter, which was jointly signed by John Damgard, the president of the FIA, and Michael Walter, the president of the Commodity Markets Council, warned that the proposed transaction tax, if approved by Congress, would drive trading to less regulated and less transparent markets, severely curtail market-making activity, and drive up the costs of hedging price risks. The letter was sent to Democratic and Republican leaders just ahead of a vote on H.R. 2454, a climate change bill that includes a provision mandating a transaction tax to cover the costs of funding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.             “While we believe it is important that the CFTC has adequate resources, we strongly urge you to reject the proposed transaction tax,” Damgard and Walter said in their letter. “At a time when the public is looking for greater transparency and improved confidence in U.S. financial markets, we do not believe that now is the time to punish market participants who choose to use the regulated and transparent U.S. exchange markets.” Click here for the PDF Treasury Futures as a Risk Management Tool Webinar The U.S. Treasury Department has significantly increased the size and frequency of debt auctions as a result of the unprecedented increase in U.S. government debt. Join us for a discussion of the effects of this supply increase on the landscape of the Treasury bond market and the increased use of futures as a liquid risk-shifting mechanism. The presenter is Mark Rzepczynski, the managing partner of Lakewood Partners, a Boston-based macro hedge fund. He also publishes a blog on macro-economic investment issues. Mark previously was the president and chief investment officer of John W. Henry & Co., a commodity trading advisor, and before that the head of credit and quantitative research in the taxable fixed income division of Fidelity Management & Research. Click here to download the PDF Click here to view the recorded webinar FIA Comments on Obama Regulatory Reform Plan Washington, D.C.—June 17, 2009—John Damgard, the president of the Futures Industry Association, today issued the following statement in response to the release by the Obama administration of a white paper outlining a number of reforms to the U.S. financial regulatory system. “We welcome the Obama plan to plug the gaps in financial market supervision and prevent a crisis of the magnitude that we have seen over the last year.  Although much work remains to be done on the details of the administration’s proposals for regulatory reform, we commend the administration for the thoughtfulness and comprehensiveness of its plan for building a “new foundation” for financial regulation and supervision. Over the last two years, the U.S. futures markets have functioned extremely well despite extraordinary turmoil in the financial system.  No customer money was lost through default and no taxpayer money was used to support the futures business.  We believe this reflects the strengths of our regulatory system as well as the effectiveness of the industry’s own practices for limiting counterparty risk and maintaining confidence in market integrity. We look forward to working with the administration, the Congress and all regulatory agencies to do everything we can to promote and enhance the liquidity, risk management, price discovery and financial integrity of futures trading in the United States.” The FIA is the leading trade organization for the futures industry.  Its membership includes the world’s largest futures brokers as well as leading derivatives exchanges from more than 20 countries.  For more information, please contact Will Acworth (wacworth@futuresindustry.org) at (202) 466-5460 or visit our website at www.futuresindustry.org.  FIA Defends Hedge Exemption for OTC Dealers             The Futures Industry Association on June 16, 2009 filed a comment letter with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission urging the agency to preserve its hedge exemptions for dealers in over-the-counter derivatives. The FIA commended the CFTC for its efforts to protect the integrity of the price discovery process, but said a repeal of these exemptions would not achieve the agency’s goal of promoting greater transparency and accountability. The FIA suggested that the CFTC should instead adopt a different approach based on determining which OTC derivatives affect price discovery in the futures markets, using the data collected through its special calls. This approach would be more consistent with the regulatory reform plan being developed by the Obama administration as well as recent testimony by CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, the letter noted.    Click here for full .pdf version FIA/SIFMA File Joint Comment Letter on Fincen SAR proposals FIA and SIFMA filed a joint comment letter on rules proposed by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regarding Suspicious Activity Reports. In the June 8 joint letter, FIA and Sifma stressed the importance of firms being able to share these reports with all affiliates within the organiz ation regardless of whether foreign or domestic. In addition, FIA and SIFMA stressed the importance of permitting each organization to make its own assessment of how to maintain confidentiality among affiliates receiving those SARs rather than imposing an obligation to establish confidentiality agreements between affiliates.  Click here for full .pdf version Joint trade association letter opposing Dorgan Amendments to Energy Bill FIA, Financial Services Roundtable, ISDA, SIFMA and The Financial Services Fourm sent a joint letter to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee expressing strong concern over amendments offered by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), warning of their potential adverse impact to markets. Click here for full .pdf version eClips Everyday by 9AM EST   Thursday, July 02 Newedge Moves To Support ELX Futures Exchange  214  PVM Loses About $10 Million in Unauthorized Trades  198  Prudential opens commods index, hires ex-UBS staff  143  CFTC looking for excessive speculation  117  NYSE’s Liffe Puts Credit-Default Clearing Project Under Review  77  CDS clearing plans not 'bulletproof'  73  Baltic exchange to aims to boost freight derivatives trading  65  Madoff Claims for $231 Million Approved for Payment  59  EU derivatives plans focus on clearing  56  Congress stuck on financial commission  55  NYSE’s Liffe Puts Credit-Default Clearing Project Under Review  48  Korea’s Bid to Tighten Control of Derivatives Opposed  45  Whistleblower rewards urged  44  SEC scraps brokers' discretionary votes in corporate director elections  43  UBS, Deutsche Bank Are Said to Get Back Assets in Milan Probe  39  U.S. Options Trading Heads for Record on 4.6% Growth  38  Index Investors Hike Stakes In Oil As Prices Rise  38  Tokyo Commodity Exchange May List Copper as It Aims for Profits  34    Wednesday, July 01 More than just a historic trading floor  222  CME Group Announces Increase in Minimum Tick Size for 30-Year U.S. Treasury Bond Futures  148  CFTC Looking at All Options for Fair Markets, Gensler Says  147  ICAP Unit, Ex-Broker Are Fined in Fees Case  94  Tokyo Commodity Exchange May List Copper as It Aims for Profits  68  Corporate Bonds Show Lehman Doesn't Matter With 9.2% Return  67  COMMODITIES-Markets tumble but end 2nd quarter with big gains  66  AIG Has 'Excellent Chance' To Repay US, Liddy Says  55  Asian Stocks Drop on Share Sale Concerns, Falling Commodities  49  Soybean future may follow bearish trend: Sharekhan  44  Europe Stocks, US Futures Rise as Yen Drops on China Economy  40  Stocks Fall on Last Day of Quarter  39  Drop in Inventories Boosts Oil Prices  37    Tuesday, June 30 Ex-CEO is back to haunt CME  293  State Street Says SEC Could Be Filing Charges  104  Markets out of step on timing of US rate rise  91  CME Says Brazil Trade Rising; Eyes New Soybean Contract  85  Bank of New York Mellon invests in IDCG  76  Sparx to Start New Global Macro Hedge Fund, President Abe Says  64  Asian Stocks Extend Record Quarterly Gain on Higher Commodities  59  OIL FUTURES: Crude Ends Higher On Nigeria Unrest  55  US Futures Gain as S&P 500 Heads for Best Quarter Since 1998  51  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