News Centre

Statement Of CFTC Commissioner Dan M. Berkovitz: Transparency And Accountability In Government

Date 10/12/2019

I strongly support the Chairman’s announcement that he will not put before the Commission for a vote any settlement agreement or other resolution of an enforcement matter that constrains the Commission, individual Commissioners, or Commission staff from making public statements about that matter.

Nasdaq Announces End-Of-Month Open Short Interest Positions In Nasdaq Stocks As Of Settlement Date November 29, 2019

Date 10/12/2019

At the end of the settlement date of November 29, 2019, short interest in 2,391 Nasdaq Global Market^SM securities totaled 8,205,473,934 shares compared with 8,223,360,638 shares in 2,391 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of November 15, 2019. The end-of-November short interest represents 4.49 days average daily Nasdaq Global Market share volume for the reporting period, compared with 4.45 days for the prior reporting period.

Statement Of CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert Before The December 10, 2019 Open Meeting - Tripling Down On Transparency

Date 10/12/2019

As regulators, we must be mindful not only of what we do, but how we do it.  Our shared vision for the CFTC is to be the global standard for sound derivatives regulation.[1]  Soundness is built on transparency: we serve our markets best when we act with the benefit of public input and dialogue.  We also owe it to those who rely on our derivatives markets to regulate in the open.  With this in mind, our agency recently adopted Clarity—which we describe as “[p]roviding transparency to market participants about our rules and processes”—as one of the four core values of the CFTC.[2] 

SIFMA Statement On The Consolidated Audit Trail

Date 10/12/2019

SIFMA today released the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA President and CEO, on the Consolidated Audit Trail:

“SIFMA remains very concerned about investor data security of the CAT. SIFMA and its members are supportive of the CAT and its regulatory intent but have repeatedly expressed strong concerns regarding the risks to our customers’ sensitive financial data information, including the wholesale collection of personally identifiable information (PII) and transaction data being compiled in one place. This risk is further compounded by a lack of liability coverage for the broker dealers who are obligated to report to the CAT. Allowing twenty-four self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”) to have the ability to bulk download and store all such data, including transactions and customer data, on their own systems, dramatically increases exposure to data breach and theft. As SEC Chairman Clayton rightly noted at a Senate Banking hearing today, data security must be a paramount concern with a database this large. Allowing up to 3,000 users at twenty-four different SROs to hold the data internally with personnel having unfettered access makes absolutely no sense. SIFMA believes that all surveillance and analysis on CAT data should occur within a highly controlled, limited access secure analytics environment within the FINRA CAT Processor and only the SEC and FINRA should have access to the full database. The SROs should only access their own transaction data and should not have access to the customer database. We urge the SEC to address these concerns immediately.”

Statement Of Commissioner Dawn D. Stump For CFTC Open Meeting - Proposed Rule: Capital Requirements For Swap Dealers And Major Swap Participants – Reopening The Comment Period And Requesting Additional Comment

Date 10/12/2019

I would like to thank the staff of DSIO, OGC, and OCE for their efforts on further refining the capital rules that would apply to those swap dealers who are not otherwise prudentially regulated.  I realize that everyone at the Commission is juggling multiple concurrent priorities and I am grateful for the considerable amount of time you all devoted to our questions and the modifications in the document that were accepted based on our recommendations.

DTCC Appoints Alison Wolpert To Lead the Firm's Global Government Relations Activities

Date 10/12/2019

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced the appointment of Alison Wolpert as Managing Director, Government Relations, effective immediately. Wolpert, who has led DTCC’s U.S. government relations function for more than 6 years and serves as Executive Director of the organization’s political action committee, succeeds Mark Wetjen, who is leaving the firm on January 3, 2020.

Statement Of Concurrence By CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam - Amendments To The Exemption From The Swap Clearing Requirement For Certain Affiliated Entities

Date 10/12/2019

I respectfully concur with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (the “Commission” or “CFTC”) decision today to issue proposed amendments to the exemption from the swap clearing requirement for certain affiliated entities.  The original inter-affiliate exemption rule was issued by the Commission in 2013.[1]  Today’s proposal reminds us both of how forward thinking the Commission was in implementing the Dodd-Frank Act and the goals envisioned at the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit, and of how we need to be thoughtful and willing to update our rule set when reality differs from what we envisioned.

SEC Obtains Asset Freeze To Halt Alleged Offering Fraud

Date 10/12/2019

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against a California solar panel company and three executives who allegedly defrauded more than 100 investors.

Statement Of Dissent By CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam - Capital Requirements Of Swap Dealers And Major Swap Participants: Proposed Rule; Reopening Of Comment Period; Request For Additional Comment

Date 10/12/2019

I respectfully dissent from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (the “Commission” or “CFTC”) decision today to reopen the comment period and request additional comment on proposed regulations and amendments to implement section 731 of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,[1] which requires the CFTC to establish capital rules for all registered swap dealers (“SDs”) and major swap participants (“MSPs”) that are not banks, including nonbank subsidiaries of bank holding companies, as well as associated financial recordkeeping and reporting requirements (the “Reopening”).  While I would have been comfortable supporting the Reopening as a matter of moving this critical Dodd-Frank Act rule forward to finalization, to the extent it introduces supplementary avenues for future rulemaking such as a leverage ratio requirement, it is a deception.  Impulsively inviting comment on matters tangential to the 2016 Capital Proposal[2], but perhaps relevant to determining appropriate capital standards and methodologies, as opposed to a thoughtful re-proposal sacrifices discipline for expediency, and runs afoul of proper process for notice and comment.  I will not be complicit in supporting Commission action that I believe could invite backdoor rationalization when finalization is before us.  The public deserves--and our integrity demands--that we play by the rules.

ISDA Letter To US Prudential Regulators On Revised Margin Requirements

Date 10/12/2019

On December 9, 2019, ISDA responded to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments regarding Margin and Capital Requirements for Covered Swap Entities issued by the US prudential regulators.  The proposed rulemaking extends the phase-in period for initial margin, preserves the legacy status for swaps amended due to the IBOR transition and certain post-trade events, and removes the obligation for affiliates to exchange initial margin.