External Meetings: Meeting with Financial Services Forum

Chairman Gensler began by describing the rulemaking process and the creation of the thirty rulemaking teams. He talked about the timing for promulgating proposed rules, the comment period, and the finalization of the rules. He then took questions from the attendees. The first question addressed the CFTC's relationship with the SEC and with European regulators. The Chairman stated that cooperation has been very productive, especially with the SEC. Second, one attendee asked about the oversight of clearinghouses with a specific focus on prudential regulations. The Chairman noted specifically the proposed rule concerning financial resources that went out the previous Friday and also stressed that the CFTC was working in close consultation with the Federal Reserve. Next, another attendee asked about foreign efforts towards derivatives regulation. The Chairman noted that the Europeans were approximately one year behind, and that Japan had mandated clearing before the US did. The next question concerned margin for end-users. The Chairman stressed that any margin requirement would be prospective from the effective date of the legislation and that the agency understood the distinction Congress has drawn between financial and non-financial end-users for clearing. He also stressed that the Commission wanted to be in lock-step with the Fed.