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The performance target was met for FY 2012. The Commission handled 446 international requests and referrals. The Commission also entered into bilateral cooperative enforcement/information sharing arrangements with more than 25 foreign authorities. In 2002, the Commission entered into a multilateral information sharing arrangement established by IOSCO which has become the gold standard for such international memoranda of understanding (MOU). Eighty-nine IOSCO members have signed the MOU. In addition, the Commission is authorized to cooperate and exchange information with foreign authorities worldwide (both with MOU partners and with other, non-MOU authorities) on a case-by-case basis.

The performance target was not applicable for FY 2012. While the performance measure and target baseline continue to develop, outgoing international requests and referrals equaled 390 in FY 2012 and new investigations exceeded 350 in the same period. This performance is also reflective of the increase in the number of enforcement matters with international connections, both that the Commission is investigating and prosecuting and that it ultimately refers to another jurisdiction. Matters continue to involve multiple jurisdictions.

Enforcement filed a total of 102 cases in FY 2012. The Office of Chief Counsel obtained international assistance in 30 of the cases. In the matters where international assistance was obtained, the following types of documents or assistance were requested:

• Bank records
• Referrals
• Assistance with service of process
• Corporate records
• Registration information
• Investigative files
• Testimony
• Provide notice of Statutory Restraining Order/asset freeze
• Internet Protocol records
• Permission to share with criminal authority

The performance target was met for FY 2012. One of the Commission's primary pathways for influencing the development of global international standards is through its participation on the Board of IOSCO, its numerous standing committees and task forces, and in the Council of Securities Regulators of the Americas (COSRA). Participation in COSRA allows the CFTC to influence development of principles within IOSCO, as COSRA also functions as the North American Regional Committee of IOSCO and therefore, has a collective voice in establishing IOSCO's policies.

The Commission's participation within IOSCO allowed it to influence final reports (as noted below) in the areas of secondary markets, intermediaries, enforcement, and collective investment schemes, as well as in specialized areas such as OTC derivatives and data aggregation, central counterparty standards, and principles of supervision for commodity futures markets.

The Commission continued its engagement in technical level working groups on OTC derivatives with global regulatory authorities, such as the European Commission; European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA); and regulatory authorities in Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The Commission, in concert with the SEC, helped organize technical discussions with these authorities to promote harmonization of OTC derivatives reforms and work through cross-border issues relating to such reforms. Commission staff participated in the OTC Derivatives Regulators Forum (ODRF), which has created new subgroups for foreign exchange and commodity derivatives repositories. The Commission also participated in the FSB OTC derivatives working group, which is monitoring progress by countries in implementing the G20's OTC derivatives mandates and the FSB legal identifier task force. The Commission, as co-chair of an IOSCO-CPSS task force on OTC derivatives regulation, authored a report on data reporting and aggregation requirements.

Trends

With the effectiveness of the Dodd-Frank Act swaps regulations, the Commission expects to be further involved in the development of supervisory coordination arrangements with foreign authorities in major jurisdictions where regulated entities will reside, such as the European Union, Canada, and Japan. For example, in the case of the European Union, the Commission contemplates the need to engage not only the European Commission, but also the ESMA and relevant national regulators, such as the UK FSA, French AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers), and German BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht), to negotiate coordinating supervisory arrangements for entities that likely will be subject to regulation in both the European Union and the United States. The Commission contemplates that similar arrangement will be needed in major market jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, and Japan.

The Commission's enforcement action against Barclays PLC brought greater global attention to the need for regulatory scrutiny of benchmarks. The Commission is co-chairing a Task Force on Benchmarks with the UK FSA. The task force expects to develop standards of best practice by spring 2013.

The aftermath of the financial crisis has spawned a multitude of initiatives in IOSCO, which included work in areas such as cooperation and coordination in the areas of OTC regulation, central counterparty clearing standards, the monitoring and control of systemic risk, market supervision implications of technological change, the protection of customer funds, and mechanisms to share systemically important information internationally.

The resource constraints will continue to prevent the Commission from participating fully in the numerous and increasing global forums, task forces, and work groups that are responding to various aspects of the financial crisis.

The performance target was met for FY 2012. The CFTC coordinates a variety of technical assistance activities: visits by foreign regulators for discussions with Commission staff on a variety of technical regulatory matters, on-site missions by Commission staff to share regulatory approaches with foreign regulators and market authorities, secondments of foreign staff within Commission operating divisions, and the annual symposium and training seminar for foreign regulators.

For example, during FY 2012, the government of Jamaica requested and funded an on-site technical assistance program. Commission staff traveled to Kingston to deliver a one-week program on financial commodity futures regulation to more than 50 staff of the Jamaican Financial Services Commission (JFSC) and the Stock Exchange of Jamaica. Staff also conducted a four-day training program for the Brazilian self-regulatory arm of the BM&FBOVESPA exchange, Bovespa Market Supervision (BSM) in Brazil. The Commission's FY 2012 symposium and training seminar for international regulators attracted 59 participants from 25 countries.

All regulators have been affected by resource constraints. The CFTC anticipates that FY 2013 and perhaps FY 2014 statistics will be impacted by such constraints, with growth (i.e., expanded requests for training) picking up toward the end of FY 2014 and into FY 2015. Nonetheless, global regulators view the Commission as an expert in commodity derivatives regulation and it anticipates that a core level of requests for training will continue.

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