NYSE Euronext Urge Changes To Derivatives Bill |
| Wednesday February 4th, 2009 / 21h32 |
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| By Sarah N. Lynch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Eurex, two of several major companies vying for a chance to clear credit-default swaps, offered a critical view Wednesday of a draft bill to expand derivatives regulation because they fear it will impede foreign companies from offering clearing for U.S. products. Karl D. Cooper, the chief regulatory officer of NYSE Liffe, the U.S. futures exchange of NYSE Euronext, and Thomas Book, a member of the executive board for Eurex and Eurex Clearing AG, told the House Agriculture Committee at a hearing that they fear the bill may have unintended consequences. "Eurex Clearing currently does not operate in the United States, but would like to consider offering clearing and other services here in the future with respect to over-the-counter contracts, agreements and transactions," Book said, adding that the company may consider clearing for excluded commodities such as credit-default swaps and also exempt commodities such as energy or metal swaps. NYSE Euronext, meanwhile, is the only company that has received the necessary approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer clearing for credit-default swaps in the U.S. It has also already started clearing in Europe, although last month there was no volume yet. The bill in question, which was drafted by Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would require mandatory clearing of most over-the-counter products. Under the current language, however, all trades must be cleared through a clearinghouse regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "Under the provisions of section 13, ... Liffe could not offer these services to U.S. persons, except with respect to excluded commodities, unless it first applied for registration with the commission as a derivatives clearing organization," said Cooper in his testimony. "The over-the-counter derivatives market is a global market, which demands a global response." -By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=oKUQzKQOxRs04yur3REd0g%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. | |
| Wednesday February 4th, 2009 / 21h32 | |
