Comment Text:
On behalf of the Working Group of Commercial Energy Firms (the “Working Group”) and the Commodity Markets Council (“CMC”) (collectively, the “Commercial Alliance”), Hunton & Williams LLP hereby submits these comments to supplement the individually filed comments of the Working Group and the CMC submitted in response to the Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Position Limits for Derivatives (the “Proposed Position Limits Rule”). While the Working Group and the CMC individually filed comments in response to the Proposed Position Limits Rule, the Commercial Alliance is filing the attached joint supplemental comments because further issues were discovered that had not previously been addressed. Specifically, these comments focus on certain flaws in the proposed definition of a bona fide hedging transaction set forth in proposed CFTC Rule 151.5(a), which, if adopted as proposed, will disrupt the use of commercial markets for hedging purposes.
Participants in the Commercial Alliance share a common concern that the Commission’s proposed rules implementing Title VII of the Act, while primarily designed to address problems in the financial markets, will materially and adversely affect the commercial markets through which agricultural and energy-related commodities are ultimately delivered to United States consumers.
If you have any questions, please contact Christine Cochran, President, CMC, at (202) 842-0400, or R. Michael Sweeney, Jr., counsel to the Working Group, at (202) 955-1500.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ R. Michael Sweeney, Jr.
R. Michael Sweeney, Jr.
David T. McIndoe
Mark W. Menezes
on behalf of the Commercial Alliance
