Public Statements & Remarks

Opening Statement, Meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Chairman Gary Gensler

October 26, 2010

Good morning. This meeting will come to order. This is a public meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider issuance of the following proposed rulemakings under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act:

  • Certification and approval of rules and new products for designated contract markets, derivatives clearing organizations, swap execution facilities and swap data repositories;
  • Removing any reliance on credit ratings in Commission regulations;
  • Amending CFTC Regulations 1.25 and 30.7 to provide greater protections for customer funds held by futures commission merchants (FCMs) and derivatives clearing organizations;
  • Process review and the designation of swaps for mandatory clearing;
  • Enhancing the Commission’s ability to protect against manipulation; and
  • An advance notice of proposed rulemaking on disruptive trading practices.

Before we hear from the staff, I’d like to thank my fellow Commissioners for all their hard work on the Dodd-Frank Act and all of our existing authorities. I’d also like to welcome members of the public, market participants and members of the media to today’s meeting, as well as welcome those listening to the meeting on the phone or watching the live webcast.

This is the third public meeting to consider Dodd-Frank rulemakings. Including today’s actions, I anticipate that we will have published two final rules, proposed 11 rules and published three advanced notices of proposed rulemaking. While a great deal of effort has gone into this, this is still likely to be only a quarter of the proposal stage of rulemaking. We currently plan to have at least three public meetings in November and two public meetings in December. Dates and topics will be published in the Federal Register. Our next meeting to consider Dodd-Frank Act rulemakings is planned for November 10. We will announce the topics of the meeting next week. The arithmetic shows that this will be a very busy next seven weeks. No doubt, as we’re human, that some rules may slip. It is our goal, however, to complete the proposal stage by mid-December.

I would like to thank the staff for all of the work that they have put into drafting the rulemakings we are considering today. I thank them for their thoughtful recommendation for how the Commission can best comply with its statutory obligations under the Dodd-Frank Act.

We look forward to receiving public comments on the proposed rules we are considering today. Each of the rules, as well as fact sheets and “Questions and Answers” on the rules, will be posted to our website shortly.

Before we turn to staff presentations, would any of my fellow commissioners like to make opening statements?

Last Updated: October 26, 2010