Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 - 2009 Treasury Department Proposed OTC Derivatives Legislation

2009 Treasury Department Proposed OTC Derivatives Legislation

On August 11, 2009, the Treasury Department sent to Congress proposed legislation titled the “Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act of 2009.” The Treasury Department stated that under this proposed legislation “the OTC derivative markets will be comprehensively regulated for the first time.”

To accomplish this “comprehensive regulation”, the proposed legislation would repeal many of the provisions of the CFMA, including all of the exclusions and exemptions discussed in Sections 4 above that have been identified as the “Enron Loophole.” While the proposed legislation would generally retain the “legal certainty” provisions of the CFMA, it would establish new requirements for parties dealing in non-“standardized” OTC derivatives and would require that “standardized” OTC derivatives be traded through a regulated trading facility and cleared through regulated central clearing. The proposed legislation would also repeal the CFMA’s limits on SEC authority over “security-based swaps.”

On December 11, 2009, the House passed H.R. 4173, the so-called Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, which included a revised version of the Treasury Department’s proposed legislation that would repeal the same provisions of the CFMA noted above. At that time, similar legislation was pending in the Senate.

In late April, 2010, debate began on the floor of the Senate over their version of the reform legislation.

Read more about this topic:  Commodity Futures Modernization Act Of 2000

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