Statement of Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen at Roundtable on Dodd-Frank End-User Issues
April 3, 2014
Washington, DC—Commodity Futures Trading Commission Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen made the following statement at the public roundtable on end-users and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank).
“I am pleased the staff has convened today’s roundtable focusing on end-user issues and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Congress was crystal clear that commercial end-users, which make up the overwhelming majority of companies in America, did not cause the crisis. Further, Congress was equally clear that in putting in place the significant derivatives reforms contained in Dodd-Frank, the derivative markets needed to remain accessible to end-users who rely on these markets for hedging and price-discovery needs.
“Looking ahead, the Commission must continue to remain open to revisiting certain rules and making adjustments as necessary. For example, the de minimis exception in the swap dealer definition for Special Entities – defined in the Dodd Frank Act to include federal, state, and municipal entities – was making it difficult for government-owned electric utilities to hedge key operational risks. In response, Commission staff recently issued temporary no-action relief that allows counterparties to exclude utility operations-related swaps from the 25 million dollar threshold.”
“Today, I am pleased to announce that I am putting into circulation a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would amend the de minimis exception to address this issue. Once the Commission issues the proposal, I look forward to receiving comment from the public and interested parties on this issue. I would like to thank the hardworking staff of the CFTC for convening this roundtable. I am looking forward to hearing the thoughts of everyone participating in the roundtable.”
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