Federal Reserve Remains Under Scrutiny; CFTC Reopens Comment Peri

Federal Reserve Remains Under Scrutiny; CFTC Reopens Comment Period On Position Limits, Staff To Hold Roundtable

, Mara C. Giorgio of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP - Capital Thinking Blog

Monday, March 2, 2015

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Legislative Activity

Federal Reserve Remains Under Scrutiny

This week, Congress will continue its focus on examining potential reforms to the Federal Reserve. Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified before Congress, which included discussion regarding recently introduced legislation to audit the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision-making. This week, the scrutiny will continue as the Senate Banking Committee hears from economists and academics about accountability and potential reforms to the Federal Reserve.

This Week’s Hearings:

On Tuesday, March 3, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Semi-Annual Report of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.”
On Tuesday, March 3, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled “Federal Reserve Accountability and Reform.”
On Thursday, March 5, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “Oversight of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.”

Regulatory Activity

CFTC Reopens Comment Period on Position Limits

On February 25, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published a notice that it would reopen the comment period for its previously proposed rule to establish speculative position limits for 28 exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts. The reopening of the public comment period coincides with last week’s Energy and Environmental Markets Committee meeting. To provide commenters with sufficient time to respond to issues raised at the meeting and recently published counts of those entities over the 28 proposed position limits, the comment will remain open for an additional 30 days, running from February 26, 2015, through March 28, 2015.

CFTC Staff to Hold Roundtable on DCOs

On Thursday, March 5, CFTC staff will hold a public roundtable to discuss issues related to recovery and orderly wind-down of Derivatives Clearing Organizations (DCOs). The goal of this roundtable is to gather views from a variety of stakeholders, including DCOs, their clearing members (futures commission merchants), and the customers of their clearing members (including money managers, end- users, and others).

SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies to Meet

On Wednesday, March 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will hold a public meeting to consider recommendations related to the definition of an “accredited investor.”