U S Commodity Futures Trading Commissio

Pro-reform Reconsideration of the Cftc Swaps Trading Rules: Return to Dodd-frank U S Commodity Futures Trading Commissio

Publisher Marketing: This White Paper is written by Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo, a public supporter of the swaps market reforms passed by Congress in Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, namely clearing swaps through central counterparties, reporting swaps to trade repositories and executing swaps transactions on regulated trading platforms. The author supports the CFTC's implementation of the first two reforms, but is critical of the CFTC's implementation of the third, as explained in this White Paper. This paper (a) analyzes flaws in the CFTC's implementation of its swaps trading regulatory framework under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act and (b) proposes a more effective alternative. This paper begins with a broad overview of the complex structure of the global swaps market. It then reviews the clear legislative provisions of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act. Next, it reviews in detail the Commission's flawed implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act's swaps trading provisions. This paper asserts that there is a fundamental mismatch between the CFTC's swaps trading regulatory framework and the distinct liquidity and trading dynamics of the global swaps market. It explains that the Commission's framework is highly over-engineered, disproportionately modeled on the U. S. futures market and biased against both human discretion and technological innovation. As such, the CFTC's framework does not accord with the letter or spirit of the Dodd-Frank Act.