Comment Letters

2010: 1 2 <view all 2010>

Posting date
8.9.2010		MFA submitted a letter to the SEC on its Consolidated Audit Trail Proposal. MFA fully supports regulators having efficient access to appropriate granular information. MFA members make significant investments in market research, proprietary investment technology and intellectual property, and the confidentiality of such information is critical to the success of their businesses. As such, MFA has a strong interest in ensuring that the Consolidated Audit Trail Proposal adequately protects intellectual property of market participants and submit comments to the Commission in this respect.
7.9.2010		MFA submitted a letter to the European Commission in response to its Consultation Paper on Short Selling. In our letter, we recommend that: (i) any rules require that reporting to a regulator be non-public and fully protect the confidentiality of the information; (ii) any rules should be based on a de minimis reporting threshold for private reporting to regulators of at least 0.5%; (iii) if there is evidence showing that public disclosure is necessary and beneficial, any rules should only require regulators to make available to the public aggregated anonymised data on short selling using the information privately reported to them, but at a higher threshold (such as 2%); and (iv) any rules prohibiting uncovered or naked short selling of shares should apply where the investor has neither pre-borrowed, agreed to borrow, nor has reasonable grounds that he will be able to borrow the shares by the time of settlement.
7.8.2010		MFA, together with FIA, CME and NFA, filed an amicus curiae brief in the Hunter v. FERC case. In our brief, we argue that the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate futures trading and to police futures trading price manipulation under CFTC rules. We argue that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is overreaching by asserting jurisdiction over a futures trader for futures trading under FERC regulation.
7.6.2010		MFA submitted a letter to the CFTC on its proposed rulemaking on �Co-location/Proximity Hosting Services�. MFA fully supports the CFTC�s efforts to require equal access to co-location and/or proximity hosting services without artificial barriers designed to exclude some market participants. In our letter, we offer comments on the proposal�s provisions on fees and the disclosure of latency information.
6.9.2010		MFA submitted a letter to the SEC in response to the rule proposals from the applicable self-regulatory organizations that would impose circuit breakers to halt trading in any individual security on the S&P 500� Index in the event that the price of such security moves ten percent or more from a sale in a preceding five-minute period. In our letter, MFA supports the proposals and the imposition of the stock-by-stock circuit breakers as a measure that will help to prevent market disruptions and restore confidence in the markets.
5.7.2010		MFA submitted a letter to the SEC in response to its request for comments on its Equity Market Structure Concept Release. As a result of market structure changes, many aspects of our equity markets�spreads, fees, execution speed, efficiency, and pricing transparency/reliability�have steadily and drastically improved over the last several years to the benefit of investors. MFA also recognizes that the regulations and technological and market innovations, in reshaping the equity market structure, raise new regulatory concerns that the Commission should evaluate. MFA supports the Commission�s efforts to review our rapidly developing market structure and to collect data to assist in its evaluation.
4.26.2010		MFA submitted comments to the CFTC in response to its request for comments on its proposed rule on Federal Speculative Position Limits for Referenced Energy Contracts and Associated Regulations. MFA is concerned that the CFTC�s proposal will not reduce price volatility or prevent market manipulation, but rather, will hinder commercial risk management. MFA is also concerned that the proposal will reduce liquidity in U.S. futures markets and reduce the competitiveness of U.S. markets. MFA urges the Commission to consider the availability of alternative approaches, such as implementing aggregate position accountability levels, requiring more comprehensive reporting of positions by traders in all related trading venues, publishing more information about hedger and swap dealer positions in OTC and exchange markets, and using additional resources to expand its current monitoring and enforcement programs.