CFTC Chairman discusses regulation of OTC derivatives
On October 21, Chairman Gary Gensler of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission gave a speech to the Institute of International Bankers in which he discussed the regulation of swaps. Specifically, Mr. Gensler described the recent amendments to the Commodity Exchange Act (care of s. 722(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act) to extend the CFTC's jurisdiction to all international activities that "have a direct and significant connection with activities in, or effect on, commerce of the United States" or that "contravene such rules or regulations as the Commission may prescribe or promulgate as are necessary or appropriate to prevent the evasion of any provision". As Mr. Gensler characterized the amendments, "if your bank is doing business here in the U.S., offering swaps to U.S. counterparties, you may want to take a close look at the statute."
