M a r k e t s P e C u L at i o N
Reining In Market
Speculation
arulethatwilllimitspeculativepositionsincommoditymarketswillsoonbeadopted,saysaregulator
by stePHeN beNNett
A
rule
lIMItINg
speculatIoN
oN
commodities
exchanges—
a most important market
reform in the eyes of fuel oil dealers—was stopped by a legal challenge
late last year, but a revised version of
the rule is likely to be implemented
this summer, said a commissioner on
the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (CFTC).
"We will have position limits in
place," Commissioner Bart Chilton told
Fuel Oil News in an interview. "I am one
hundred percent confident."
The Commission is charged with
writing and implementing some 60
rules under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform & Consumer Protection Act of
2010. The Commission had completed
about 40 of those rules by mid January,
Chilton said.
But the Speculative Position Limits
rule, important to the fuel oil industry because it would, for the first time,
limit on- and off-exchange energy
trades, isn't one of those that have
been implemented. The rule was written and finalized, but was challenged
in U.S. District Court in the District of
Columbia by the International Swaps
and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and
the Securities Industry and Financial
Markets Association (SIFMA) days
before it was to go into effect last
October. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, by Judge Robert Wilkins, vacated
the rule and remanded it to the CFTC
for reconsideration.
1
February2013| FueLOILNeWS|www.fueloilnews.com
CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton
