Comment Text:
Good afternoon:
Attached below please find the petition which was filed with the Secretary of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission") on Thursday, August 26, 2010. A notice of receipt was received from the Secretary of the Commission on August 27, 2010.
Although the topic addressed in the attached petition is broader that the specific rulemakings that must be addressed by the Commission under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Act"), it nevertheless addresses a key implementation issue affecting all persons that transact, operate or otherwise rely on the terms of Section 2(h) of the Commodity Exchange Act (as in existence on the day before the effective date of the Act). Given the lack of procedural guidance for the submission of a petition of this nature with the Commission, we are also forwarding the attached to the above-listed address for the "General Submissions" page of the Commission's website for OTC Derivatives to the extent such action it is deemed to necessary and appropriate by staff.
To the extent that this submission is duplicative or will be handled separately by the Secretary of the Commission, we apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions, or if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate call me directly.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
-- Respectfully. Michael Sweeney.
______________________________________________
From: Sweeney, R. Michael
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 8:18 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Berkovitz, Dan M; [email protected]; Arbit, Terry; Menezes, Mark W.; McIndoe, David
Subject: Commodities Futures Trading Commission - Petitions under Section 723(c) of Dodd-Frank
Dear Secretary Stawick:
On behalf of the Working Group for Commercial Energy Firms ("Working Group"), Hunton & Williams LLP hereby submits the attached petition requesting that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission") act sua sponte regarding the ability of persons to submit a petition pursuant to Section 723(c)(1) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Act") to obtain legal certainty that their exempt commodity transactions that fall within Section 2(h) of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) (as in existence on the day before the date of enactment of the Act) may remain subject to CEA Section 2(h) for a one year period commencing on the general effective date of the Act, i.e., July 15, 2011, or for a period deemed appropriate by the Commission.
For the public policy reasons discussed therein, the attached respectfully requests that the Commission act on its own initiative and issue either:
* a blanket order pursuant to Section 723(c)(2) of the Act grandfathering all persons that transact, operate, or otherwise rely on the provisions of CEA Section 2(h) (as in existence on the day before the Enactment Date), as well as all transactions subject to this provision of the CEA, for a one year period commencing on the Effective Date or for a period deemed appropriate by the Commission; or
* formal guidance as soon as practicable regarding the procedural and substantive requirements for petitions submitted pursuant to Section 723(c)(1) of the Act.
If the Commission should decide not to issue a blanket order, the attached petition requests that the Commission issue formal guidance regarding the procedural and substantive requirements applicable to individual petitions submitted pursuant to Section 723(c)(1) of the Act. Appended to the petition as Attachment 1 is a pro forma form of petition prepared by the Working Group that could be submitted by parties under Section 723(c)(1). Recognizing that certain aspects of the pro forma petition must be tailored to each company’s individual circumstances, the use of a common form of petition would bring uniformity to the process and significantly lessen the administrative burden on Commission staff reviewing these submissions.
Given that there is approximately 25 days until the 60-day statutory deadline established by Section 723(c)(1) of the Act expires (i.e., September 20, 2010), expedited action by the Commission at this time is critical. If you have any questions, or if the Working Group can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
-- Respectfully submitted. Michael Sweeney.
<> <>
__________________________________________
R. Michael Sweeney, Jr.
Hunton & Williams LLP
1900 K Street, N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, D.C.
(202) 955-1944
[email protected]
___________________________________________
This communication is confidential and is intended to be privileged pursuant to applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify Hunton & Williams LLP immediately by telephone (877-374-4937) and by electronic mail to: [email protected] and then delete this message and all copies and backups thereof.
