Release: #3998-97

For Release: February 28, 1997

CFTC TAKES FURTHER ACTION TO ENCOURAGE AUTOMATION - ISSUES ADVISORY RELATING TO "WRITTEN" REQUIREMENTS OF COMMISSION REGULATION 1.35 AND RELEASES SUMMARY OF EXCHANGE ORDER AND TRADE AUTOMATION ROUNDTABLE

Washington, D.C. - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has taken two action as part of its ongoing efforts to support and facilitate further automation of the order-delivery and order- reporting process. On February 20, 1997, the Commission issued an Advisory providing for alternative means of compliance with certain "written" record requirements of Commission Regulation 1.35 for customer orders prepared, transmitted to, and reported from an exchange trading pit by an electronic order-routing system and customer orders prepared by an electronic off-floor order management system. The Advisory enables systems satisfying enumerated standards to come on-line without first seeking Commission review and approval with respect to those "written" record requirements.

The Commission also is releasing a summary of its October 16, 1996 Exchange Order and Trade Automation Roundtable held in Chicago. The Roundtable brought together a diverse group of industry experts and market users for an open discussion on the status of automation and automation challenges facing the industry. The Commission agrees with the general view expressed during the Roundtable discussions that continuing development and implementation of automated order-routing and trade data reporting technology is important to the competitiveness of U.S. exchanges and their member firms. The Commission therefore will continue to encourage automation efforts.

The Roundtable summary and the complete Roundtable transcript will be available on the Commission's Internet website (www.cftc.gov) in the near future. For further information, contact the Commission's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 418- 5080.