News Article Commodity traders in the European Union may face restrictions including position limits under proposals from the European Commission aimed at curbing excessive price volatility. "We need regulators to keep a closer eye on positions taken up in respect of commodity derivatives," Michel Barnier, the EU's financial services chief told reporters in Brussels today. "This will include the possibility of introducing position limits if necessary," he said. "Personally speaking I believe in this." Publication Bloomberg Date Feb. 2, 2011 Cross References Dodd-Frank Act, Title VII, Sec. 737

CFTC Dodd-Frank Rulemaking The CFTC is proposing rules that would implement regulations whereby swaps in agricultural commodities and all commodity options (including options on both agricultural and non-agricultural commodities), other than options on futures, may transact subject to the same rules as all other swaps. The proposed rules for swaps in an agricultural commodity would repeal and replace the CFTC's regulations concerning the exemption of swap agreements. Document Number 76 Fed. Reg. 6095 Date February 3, 2011 Closing Date for Comments: April 4, 2011 Cross References Dodd-Frank Act

FINRA Regulatory Notice 11-06 Date February 3, 2011 FINRA published a notice to announce that the SEC recently approved its proposal to adopt new rules governing reporting requirements in the consolidated rulebook, and to announce that the effective date for the new rules will be July 1, 2011. The new rule, FINRA 4530, is based in large part on NASD Rule 3070 and NYSE Rule 351, and requires firms to (1) report certain events and quarterly statistical and summary information as to customer complaints and (2) file with FINRA copies of certain criminal convictions, civil complaints, and

News Article A U.S. proposal that swaps-execution facilities have tighter market oversight than the exchanges they'll compete with may limit competition among the systems meant to increase transparency, according to Moody's Investors Service. "It's a barrier to entry in the sense that they can't just comply by slapping together pieces of software and saying we're a SEF," said Alexander Yavorsky, a senior analyst at Moody's in New York. The CFTC has proposed limiting the ability of swap-execution facilities to outsource their trade oversight duties and wants to require them to have a year's

News Article Debate over the role of speculation in pushing up commodity prices took a new political turn after the European Union's executive arm cut a controversial paragraph from a long-awaited report on improving transparency in markets. The report, released Wednesday, had already been delayed by a week after French President Nicolas Sarkozy lambasted an earlier version, which said it had found no evidence of "a correlation between the substantial increase in index fund positions and commodity futures prices." In the final version, the controversial section had been removed. Instead, the