Today, the House Agriculture Committee resumed its series of hearings to review legislation addressing the transparency and oversight of derivative markets. For the second consecutive day, the Committee received testimony and asked questions of fifteen witnesses representing stakeholder groups about the Derivatives Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2009, draft language circulated last week by Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota.
“I thought it was important to call these hearings because we need to have this debate about the bill’s provisions out in the open,” Chairman Peterson said. “We have had two days of hearings with a lot of spirited debate among Members and witnesses, and I think that is a good thing. It is important that we understand the concerns of those who think we are going too far and from those who think we are not going far enough. This Committee will continue to move forward in the weeks ahead in hopes of crafting a strong, bipartisan bill that will gain broad support.”
The draft legislation circulated by Chairman Peterson is designed to bring greater transparency to futures markets and to bring a sense of order to the over-the-counter market for swaps and other credit derivatives. It represents a broadened version of a bipartisan bill which the House passed last September with more than 280 votes (H.R. 6604). The Committee also held three hearings in late 2008 on the proliferation of over-the-counter credit derivatives, including credit default swaps.
Witness testimony for today’s hearing, yesterday’s hearing, and the draft language and outline circulated by Chairman Peterson are available on the Committee website: http://agriculture.house.gov. A full transcript of today’s hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.
Witness List:
Panel I
* Mr. Michael W. Masters, Managing Member / Portfolio Manager, Masters Capital Management, LLC, St. Croix, USVI
* Mr. Johnathan Short, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, IntercontinentalExchange, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia
* Mr. Gary W. Taylor, President, Cargill Cotton, on behalf of The National Cotton Council, American Cotton Shippers Association, and AMCOT, Cordova, Tennessee
* Mr. Robert Pickel, Chief Executive Officer, International Swaps & Derivatives Association, New York, New York
* The Honorable Joseph D. Morelle, Chair, New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Insurance, on behalf of National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), Troy, New York
Panel II
* Mr. Chris Concannon. Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX, New York, New York
* Mr. Bill Hale, Senior Vice President, Grain and Oilseed Supply Chain, on behalf of Cargill, Incorporated, Wayzata, Minnesota
* Mr. Karl D. Cooper, Chief Regulatory Officer, NYSE Liffe, LLC, on behalf of NYSE Euronext, New York, New York
* Mr. Paul N. Cicio, President, Industrial Energy Consumers of America, Washington, D.C.
* Mr. Mark C. Brickell, Chief Executive Officer, Blackbird Holdings, Inc., New York, New York
Panel III
* Mr. Thomas Book, Member of the Executive Board, on behalf of Eurex Deutschland and Eurex Clearing AG, Frankfurt, Germany
* Mr. Stuart Kaswell, General Counsel, Managed Funds Association, Washington, D.C.
* Mr. Edward J. Rosen, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, on behalf of Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, New York, New York
* Mr. Brent M. Weisenborn, Chief Executive Officer, Agora-X, LLC, Parkville, Missouri
* Mr. Donald P. Fewer, Senior Managing Director, Standard Credit Group, LLC, New York, New York
