Reuters February 10, 2011 Businesses that use over-the-counter derivatives to hedge their risks still face the specter of higher costs if swaps dealers are forced to put up capital for the deals, a Republican commissioner at the U.S. futures regulator warned on Thursday. CFTC Commissioner Scott O'Malia stated: " We need to be very sensitive if we're going to assess a capital charge on swap dealers for all their uncleared trades, that's going to have an impact on end users." O'Malia said he was "very pleased" that Gary Gensler, the chairman of the CFTC, took pains at a Capitol Hill hearing on

Reuters February 10, 2011 CFTC Chairman Gensler sought to ease the fears of lawmakers and businesses about the costs and scope of regulations for the over-the-counter swaps market, while admitting the agency was falling behind in rolling out the new rules. The overflowing hearing was civil, but lawmakers put Gensler on notice they would scrutinize the outcome of the CFTC's work. Highlights of the hearing: "Some of these rules will be put in place after July," Gensler said, noting the agency would take a "pause period" in February and March to consider public comments. End User Margin: "I

Reuters February 10, 2011 The CFTC's attempt to rein in speculation could give rise to a plethora of smaller market players, posing an oversight challenge for the understaffed agency, industry insiders said. Gregory Mocek, a former enforcement director at the CFTC, and current partner at Cadwalader said it is possible that imposing position limits could spur smaller firms without cutting back on the volume of activity in markets. Mocek also commented on the CFTC's failure to issue definitions under Dodd-Frank. "There's a real possibility that the fact that the commission will put out the

News Article Bloomberg February 9, 2011 A bipartisan group of U.S. senators urged regulators implementing derivatives measures under the Dodd-Frank Act to move cautiously so the rules can be "completed without unintended consequences." In a letter signed by 13 members of the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees, warnings were issued against "overly prescriptive rules" that might push market participants abroad and dated yesterday. "If the major overhaul of our derivatives market is implemented hastily, agency rulemakings could have negative effects on our economy at a time when we can

February 8, 2011 Two new statutory instruments, the Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011 and the Investment Bank (Amendment of Definition) Order 2011, have come into effect. These provisions stem from the Banking Act 2009 and establish a new special administration procedure for failing investment banks which facilitates the return of client assets, following the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers insolvency. The Act also makes it possible for the Bank of England to supplement the insolvency procedures under the Banking Act 2009 where an investment bank also takes deposits