Statement of Commissioner Sharon Y. Bowen Regarding the CFTC’s Reopening the Comment Period for Position Limits Rulemaking

December 1, 2014

I support this reopening of the comment period for our position limits rule. As I've previously said, this is a key rule and we are well-served by giving stakeholders another chance to comment.

However, we cannot allow this rule to linger indefinitely on our docket. It has been over a year since we re-proposed this rule and nearly four years since it was first proposed. We need to finish this rule next year, and I believe we can release a final rule by spring 2015.

As we continue to finalize and fine-tune our Dodd-Frank rulemakings, we have to avoid the temptation to simply ratchet back or weaken prior versions of those rules. In fact, I think the best way of viewing changes to our rules is not that we are tweaking them, but rather that we are enhancing them. Sometimes that may mean making the rules more cost-effective and leaner, but at other times that will mean making them stronger than before. Enhancing a rule can mean reducing burdens to business while strengthening protections for the public. I believe our position limits proposal is exactly the sort of rule that needs to be enhanced, and I look forward to working with my fellow Commissioners to finish and release this rule in a timely fashion.

Last Updated: December 1, 2014