Federal Register, Volume 79 Issue 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 2014)]

[Proposed Rules]

[Pages 2394-2395]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 2014-00496]

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COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION

17 CFR Part 150

RIN 3038-AD82

Aggregation of Provisions

AGENCY: Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

ACTION: Proposed rule; extension of comment period.

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SUMMARY: On November 15, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

(“Commission”) published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed

rulemaking (the “Aggregation Proposal”) to amend existing regulations

setting out the Commission’s policy for aggregation under its position

limits regime. On the same day that the Commission adopted the

Aggregation Proposal, it also adopted a proposal to establish

speculative position limits for the 28 exempt and agricultural

commodity futures and options contracts and the physical commodity

swaps that are economically equivalent to such contracts that

previously had been covered by part 151 of its regulations (the

“Position Limits Proposal”). However, the Position Limits Proposal

was not published in the Federal Register until December 12, 2013.

Because the comment period for both proposals was 60 days after

publication in the Federal Register, the comment period for the

Position Limits Proposal runs to a later date than the comment period

for the Aggregation Proposal. In order to provide interested parties

with an opportunity to comment on the Aggregation Proposal for so long

as the comment period on the Position Limits Proposal is open, the

Commission is extending the comment period for the Aggregation Proposal

so that it ends at the same time as the comment period for the Position

Limits Proposal.

DATES: The comment period for the Aggregation Proposal published

November 15, 2013, at 78 FR 68946, is extended until February 10, 2014.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3038-AD82, by any

of the following methods:

Agency Web site: http://comments.cftc.gov;

Mail: Melissa D. Jurgens, Secretary of the Commission,

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st

Street NW., Washington, DC 20581;

Hand Delivery/Courier: Same as mail, above; or

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

Follow instructions for submitting comments.

Please submit your comments using only one method.

All comments must be submitted in English, or if not, accompanied

by an English translation. Comments will be posted as received to

http://www.cftc.gov. You should submit only information that you wish

to make available publicly. If you wish the Commission to consider

information that may be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of

Information Act, a petition for confidential treatment of the exempt

information may be submitted according to the procedures established in

CFTC regulations at 17 CFR part 145.

The Commission reserves the right, but shall have no obligation, to

review, pre-screen, filter, redact, refuse or remove any or all of your

submission from http://www.cftc.gov that it may deem to be

inappropriate for publication, such as obscene language. All

submissions that have been redacted

[[Page 2395]]

or removed that contain comments on the merits of the rulemaking will

be retained in the public comment file and will be considered as

required under the Administrative Procedure Act and other applicable

laws, and may be accessible under the Freedom of Information Act.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen Sherrod, Senior Economist,

Division of Market Oversight, (202) 418-5452, [email protected]; Riva

Spear Adriance, Senior Special Counsel, Division of Market Oversight,

(202) 418-5494, [email protected]; or Mark Fajfar, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of General Counsel, (202) 418-6636, [email protected];

Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st

Street NW., Washington, DC 20581.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Commission has long established and enforced speculative

position limits for futures and options contracts on various

agricultural commodities as authorized by the Commodity Exchange Act

(“CEA”).1 The part 150 position limits regime,2 generally

includes three components: (1) The level of the limits, which set a

threshold that restricts the number of speculative positions that a

person may hold in the spot-month, individual month, and all months

combined,3 (2) exemptions for positions that constitute bona fide

hedging transactions and certain other types of transactions,4 and

(3) rules to determine which accounts and positions a person must

aggregate for the purpose of determining compliance with the position

limit levels.5 The Aggregation Proposal, generally speaking, sets out

proposed changes to the Commission’s regulations relating to the third

component of the position limits regime.6

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1 7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.

2 See 17 CFR part 150. Part 150 of the Commission’s

regulations establishes federal position limits on certain

enumerated agricultural contracts; the listed commodities are

referred to as enumerated agricultural commodities.

3 See 17 CFR 150.2.

4 See 17 CFR 150.3.

5 See 17 CFR 150.4.

6 See Aggregation of Positions, 78 FR 68946 (Nov. 15, 2013).

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The Commission has also adopted the Position Limits Proposal,

proposing to establish speculative position limits for 28 exempt and

agricultural commodity futures and option contracts, and physical

commodity swaps that are “economically equivalent” to such contracts

(as such term is used in section 4a(a)(5) of the CEA).7

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7 See Position Limits for Derivatives, 78 FR 75680 (Dec. 12,

2013).

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The Commission adopted the Aggregation Proposal and the Position

Limits Proposal separately because it believes that the proposed

amendments regarding aggregation of positions could be appropriate

regardless of whether the Position Limits Proposal is adopted. The

Commission anticipates that it could adopt either of the proposals

separately from the other, but if both proposals are finalized, the

modifications in the Aggregation Proposal would apply to both the

current position limits regime for futures and option contracts on nine

agricultural commodities and to the position limits regime for 28

exempt and agricultural commodity futures and options contracts and the

physical commodity swaps that are economically equivalent to such

contracts that was proposed in the Position Limits Proposal.8

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8 See Aggregation Proposal, 78 FR at 68947.

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II. Extension of Comment Period

Subsequent to issuing the Aggregation Proposal, the Commission has

received four written comments from interested parties requesting that

the Commission extend the comment period so that it would end at the

same time as the comment period for the Position Limits Proposal.9 In

general, these commenters said that because of the related nature of

the two proposals, it would be more practicable to formulate comments

on both the proposals at the same time. The commenters pointed out, for

example, that in certain instances the comments to be made on an aspect

of one of the proposals may depend on views regarding the other

proposal. The Commission also notes that these requests for an

extension of time were made by several groups representing a wide

variety of market participants who are interested in commenting on the

Aggregation Proposal.10

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9 See letter from the Asset Management Group of the Securities

Industry and Financial Markets Association and the International

Swaps and Derivatives Association dated December 20, 2013; letter

from Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on behalf of The Commercial

Energy Working Group dated December 23, 2013; letter from the Edison

Electric Institute, the Energy Power Supply Association and the

American Gas Association dated January 3, 2014; and letter from the

Futures Industry Association, Inc. (“FIA”), dated January 3, 2014.

These letters, and other comments received on the Aggregation

Proposal, are available at http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/CommentList.aspx?id=1427.

10 FIA noted that it “supports the Commission’s decision to

propose, and if possible, finalize a well-crafted Aggregation

Proposal as expeditiously as possible.” FIA requested the

Commission “not delay adopting a final aggregation rule pending

finalization of the 2013 Position Limits Proposal.” See January 3,

2014, letter at footnote 4.

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In light of the comments received, the Commission is extending the

comment period for the Aggregation Proposal to align with the comment

period for the Position Limits Proposal. Thus, both comment periods

will end on February 10, 2014.

Issued in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2014, by the Commission.

Christopher J. Kirkpatrick,

Deputy Secretary of the Commission.

Note: The following appendix will not appear in the Code of

Federal Regulations.

Appendix to Extension of Comment Period for the Rulemaking Amending the

Aggregation Provisions of Part 150–Commission Voting Summary

On this matter, Acting Chairman Wetjen and Commissioners Chilton

and O’Malia voted in the affirmative. No Commissioner voted in the

negative.

[FR Doc. 2014-00496 Filed 1-13-14; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6351-01-P

Last Updated: January 14, 2014