News Centre

Federal Court In Illinois Orders Trading Point Of Financial Instruments Ltd. To Pay $140,000 Penalty For Acting As Unregistered Retail Forex Dealer - Trading Point Also Ordered To Cease Soliciting U.S. Customers And To Modify Website - Action Part Of CFTC’s Second Nationwide Sweep Against Forex Firms For Failure To Register Under The 2008 Farm Bill, The Dodd-Frank Act, And CFTC Regulations

Date 02/05/2012

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a federal court consent order requiring Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd. (Trading Point), of Limassol, Cyprus, to pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty to settle CFTC charges. The order finds that Trading Point unlawfully solicited U.S. customers to engage in foreign currency (forex) transactions and operated as a Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED) without being registered with the CFTC.

Remarks By Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Sobel At The Woodrow Wilson Center On Mexico And The G-20 Leader’s Summit

Date 01/05/2012

 I thank the Woodrow Wilson Center for the opportunity to share our thoughts on Mexico’s G-20 agenda and the upcoming Summit.

Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices

Date 01/05/2012

Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:

• The shares of Longford Energy Inc. (TSXVN:LFD) will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index. Trading in the company will be transferred to NEX following the sale of substantially all its assets to Genel Energy plc (LSE:GENL).

ISDA 2012 Margin Survey Results: Collateralization Continues To Increase In OTC Derivatives Markets

Date 01/05/2012

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today released results from its 2012 ISDA Margin Survey at its 27th Annual General Meeting in Chicago.

CBOE Holdings, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2012 Financial Results - Diluted EPS Of $0.37, Up 3 Percent

Date 01/05/2012

First Quarter GAAP Financial Highlights

• Operating Revenues of $121.4 Million, Down 2 Percent
• Net Income Allocated to Common Stockholders was $32.9 Million; Diluted EPS Up 3 Percent to $0.37
• Operating Margin Increases 90 Basis Points to 47.3 Percent
• Average Daily Trading Volume of 4.88 Million Contracts, Down 4 Percent Versus 1Q11 and Up 14 Percent Versus 4Q11
• Total Market Share Increased to 29.9 Percent for the Quarter, Up 3.2 Percentage Points from Fourth Quarter 2011

ISDA Publishes 2012 Operations Benchmarking Survey

Date 01/05/2012

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) today released its 2012 Operations Benchmarking Survey at its 27th Annual General Meeting in Chicago.

CME Group To Expand CBOT Grain And Oilseed Trading Hours On CME

Date 01/05/2012

CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced it will expand electronic trading hours in its CBOT grain and oilseed futures and options beginning Monday, May 14, 2012. This will expand market access to CBOT Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Soybean Meal,Soybean Oil, Oats and Rough Rice futures and options on CME Globex to 22 hours per day.

Statement Of Support Regarding Proposed Interpretative Statement The Confidentiality And Indemnification Provision In The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection – CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia

Date 01/05/2012

I concur in support of the Commission’s proposed interpretative statement (“Proposed Interpretative Statement”) regarding the confidentiality and indemnification provisions of Section 21(d) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).

BOX Price Improvement Activity for April

Date 01/05/2012

In the month of April, price improved contracts on BOX Options Exchange (“BOX”) averaged 271,555 per day.  Price improvement versus the prevailing NBBO for contracts submitted via BOX’s price improvement auction (“PIP”) averaged $173,580 per day, while total savings to investors this month were $3.4 MM.  With this, BOX has saved investors over $384 MM since its inception in 2004.  Overall average daily trading volume on BOX in the month of April was 618,318 contracts, which represented a 39% increase over the same period last year. 

Statement Of Concurrence Regarding Proposed Interpretative Statement The Confidentiality And Indemnification Provision In The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection – CFTC Commissioner Jill E. Sommers

Date 01/05/2012

I concur in the issuance of this Proposed Interpretative Statement Regarding the Confidentiality and Indemnification Provisions of Section 21(d) of the Commodity Exchange Act (Proposed Interpretive Statement). It provides some additional clarification with respect to how the Commission intends to interpret the application of the Section 21(d) indemnification provisions beyond what the Commission stated when it finalized the swap data repository (SDR) rules. See Swap Data Repositories: Registration Standards, Duties and Core Principles, 76 Fed. Reg. 54,538 (Sept. 1, 2011). However, a legislative fix is the only real solution to providing appropriate regulators, both foreign and domestic, with timely access to relevant data. I agree with Commissioner O’Malia that the Commission should publicly support repeal of the indemnification provisions, and note that the SEC has already done so.