SEC COMMISSIONER AGUILAR SPEAKS ON SECURITY-BASED SWAPS

The following is an excerpt from the SEC website: “SEC Open Meeting Washington, D.C. October 12, 2011 In light of the critical role played by unregulated derivatives in the financial crisis of 2008, Congress created a comprehensive regulatory regime for derivatives in Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act designed to promote, among other things, the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system. However, this regulatory regime cannot go into effect until the primary regulators promulgate and adopt rules that implement this regime. One component of these Title VII reforms is the requirement that security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants register and be overseen by the Commission. Today, we consider proposed rules that would implement this provision of Title VII by requiring these entities to register with the Commission. As always, I welcome public comment on today’s proposal. Currently, the proposed rules require a knowledgeable senior officer to certify that the entity applying for registration has the operational, financial, and compliance capabilities to conduct its security-based swaps business. As we move to adopt these rules, I am particularly interested in comments addressing the most effective way to ensure that SBS entities have the capabilities required to fulfill the crucial roles they occupy. I will vote to support this proposal, and I join my colleagues in thanking the staff for their work.”