SEC and CFTC Announce Meetings on Harmonizing Regulations

The SEC and CFTC announced last week that the two agencies will hold joint meetings to seek input from the public on harmonization of the regulation of similar types of over the counter (OTC) financial instruments. The first meeting will be held at the CFTC on Sept. 2, 2009. The second meeting, on Sept. 3, 2009, will be held at the SEC. These meetings are being held in response to the Obama Administration's White Paper on Financial Regulatory Reform which called on the SEC and CFTC to “make recommendations to Congress for changes to statutes and regulations that would harmonize regulation of futures and securities.” The White Paper also recommended that the two agencies submit a report to Congress by September 30, 2009 identifying the conflicts that currently exist in statutes and regulations governing OTC instruments, and either justifying or making recommendations to eliminate these differences.

The SEC announcement of the joint meetings is available at: http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2009/2009-186.htm

The CFTC announcement of the joint meetings is available at: http://www.cftc.gov/newsroom/generalpressreleases/2009/pr5696-09.html