Release:             4497-01
For Release:     March 15, 2001

INTERNATIONAL FUTURES REGULATORS MEETING

  � Boca Raton, Florida - Financial services regulators from Austria, Brazil, Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec), Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Peoples Republic of China, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States met on March 14, 2001 to discuss practical approaches to organizing regulation in an increasingly integrated global futures market in order to facilitate cross-border access and effective supervision.

  � A major focus of the discussions was to identify practical methods to reduce inconsistent or unnecessary duplication of regulatory efforts or requirements affecting the same entity. Topics included:

• Regulatory developments in Canada, Asia, the European Union, and the United States;
• The experience of UK, Italy, and U.S. futures exchanges on practical solutions to oversight of recognized or "passported" markets and intermediaries and common exchange members;
• An industry panel discussion concerning how global regulation impacts the operational efficiency of global firms;
• Simplifying on-going access to information on individuals and firms – National Futures Association database experience; and
• A discussion on the challenges of cross-border exchanges, led by the Netherlands Securities Commission and including the French and Brazilian regulators’ perspective.

  � Commenting on this meeting, James Newsome, Acting Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said:

I am very pleased to provide this opportunity for international regulators, exchanges, intermediaries, the National Futures Association and the Futures Industry Association to share ideas on ways to reduce regulatory burdens, facilitate cross-border access and ensure customer and market protections.

The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which has significantly revised the structure of U.S. futures regulation by embracing a flexible, pro-competing approach, specifically recognizes the importance of global cooperation to meet the challenges of the increasing electronic global integration of our markets. This new legislation specifically encourages the Commission to work with our international colleagues to remove or lessen any unnecessary obstacles to cross-border transactions, while maintaining effective oversight.

Today’s meeting identified some potential steps national regulators can take to cooperatively approach enforcement and regulatory issues that affect these markets.