Release: #4125-98

For Release: March 20, 1998

INTERNATIONAL FUTURES REGULATORS AMEND DECLARATION ON COOPERATION AND SUPERVISION OF INTERNATIONAL FUTURES MARKETS AND CLEARING ORGANIZATIONS TO ADDRESS POTENTIAL MANIPULATIVE OR ABUSIVE PRACTICES

Boca Raton, Florida -- The four Co-chairs of the October 1997 Tokyo Commodity Futures Markets Regulators' Conference (Tokyo Conference) -- the Japan Ministries of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) -- announced today the culmination of a successful effort to amend the Declaration on Cooperation and Supervision of International Futures Markets and Clearing Organizations (Declaration) to address potential manipulative or other abusive conduct. The initiative to amend the Declaration follows a recommendation issued by the participants in the October 1997 Tokyo Conference.

Statements of the Co-chairs of the October 1997 Tokyo Conference

Statement of CFTC Chairperson Brooksley Born:
I am extremely pleased to join our regulatory colleagues in further enhancing the usefulness of the Declaration by adding potential manipulative or abusive practices to its scope.

This is the second of two very important enhancements to the Declaration that have flowed from the year-long work program that culminated in the issuance of the Tokyo Communiqu� last October. The first, agreed to in October 1997, removed certain restrictive language that had prevented some futures regulators from executing the Declaration. Subsequently, MITI and MAFF from Japan, the New Zealand Securities Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Argentina and the Capital Markets Board of Turkey signed the Declaration, bringing the total number of signatories to 25.

The second amendment similarly flows from our discussions of international information sharing at the Tokyo Conference. These enhancements to the Declaration demonstrate the continuing commitment of international regulators to improve the integrity of financial markets.

Statement of Mitsuyasu Iwata, Director-General for Commerce and Distribution Policy, Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan:

I am very pleased by these efforts to make the Declaration a more effective tool for international cooperation by expanding its scope to include potential manipulative or abusive practices.

I believe this amendment will help prevent manipulation or abusive conduct across multiple markets and contribute to the integrity of the world's commodity futures markets.

Statement of Mr. Kouji Honda, Director General, Food and Marketing Bureau, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan:

I believe this amendment to the Boca Raton Declaration is indispensable in that it will both enhance the market mechanism for fair price discovery and help to protect investors. This amendment and the reform that our government is presently pursuing in the Commodity Exchange Law will contribute to further growth and development in both domestic and international commodity futures markets.

Statement of Howard Davies, Chairman, UK Financial Services Authority:

These changes enlarge the scope of the Boca Raton Declaration. They will strengthen international co-operation in two key areas: the supervision of business on the international commodity markets and our capacity to enforce high standards of market behaviour. In the increasingly global market place regulators need to be able to share information effectively in order to maintain confidence in the integrity of financial markets and deliver high standards of investor protection.

List of Signatories to the Declaration

Comision Nacional de Valores (Argentina)

Australian Securities Commission (Australia)

Federal Ministry of Finance (Austria)

Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios (Brazil)

Commission des Valeurs Mobilieres du Quebec (Canada, Quebec)

Financial Supervision Authority (Denmark)

Commission des Operations de Bourse (France)

Bundesaufsichtsamt fur den Wertpapierhandel (Germany)

Securities & Futures Commission (Hong Kong)

Hungarian Banking and Capital Market Supervision (Hungary)

Central Bank of Ireland (Ireland)

Commisione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa (Italy)

Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Japan)

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan)

Securities Commission (Malaysia)

Securities Board of the Netherlands (Netherlands)

New Zealand Securities Commission (New Zealand)

Comissao do Mercado de Valores Mobiliarios (Portugal)

Monetary Authority of Singapore (Singapore)

Financial Services Board (South Africa)

Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (Spain)

Financial Supervisory Authority (Sweden)

Capital Market Board (Turkey)

Financial Services Authority (United Kingdom)

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (United States)