ICE Futures EuropeCFTC To Include ICE Futures Europe Data In Weekly Trader Report Dow Jones July 30, 2009: 04:09 PM ET WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday it plans to regularly include some data it receives from ICE Futures Europe in its weekly large trader reports starting this Friday. The expansion of data that will be included in its weekly report is part of a broader push announced earlier this month to shed more light on the trading activity of large players in the futures market. The weekly report will for the first time ever contain information about large positions that traders hold in ICE Futures Europe's West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil contracts, which are cash-settled against the price of the New York Mercantile Exchange's crude oil contracts. "The CFTC has a responsibility to ensure that our markets are transparent and free from fraud, manipulation and other abuses," CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said. "I am pleased to announce that we will this week begin fulfilling our commitment to greater transparency by including position data the CFTC receives for foreign contracts linked to the settlement price of domestic contracts." ICE Futures Europe, which is owned by Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), is considered a foreign board of trade by the CFTC, but since 1999 has received permission to offer U.S. traders electronic access to its trading platform through a no-action letter. The letter was granted to the exchange before it was bought by the U.S.-based company in 2001. But the company came under fire from critics in 2006 after it began offering several futures and options contracts that were based on the settlement prices of Nymex's West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract. Critics said ICE shouldn't be considered a foreign exchange because its parent company is headquartered in the U.S. and they feared traders could circumvent position limits and manipulate the markets or cause excessive speculation. As oil prices climbed to record highs last year, the CFTC sought to rectify the controversy and announced a special agreement with ICE Futures Europe and the Financial Services Authority, which regulates financial markets in the U.K. Under the agreement, the FSA pledged to provide the CFTC with large trader position data from the look-alike WTI contract and notify U.S. regulators when traders exceeded accountability levels. Gensler, the CFTC's new chairman, announced earlier this month that in addition to possibly imposing new limits on speculative energy trading, he also planned to beef up the CFTC's weekly large trader reports to help the public get a better glimpse into the markets. The expanded reports will contain data from swap dealers and hedge funds. Position data will also eventually be included on electronically traded contracts, such as ICE's Henry Hub natural gas swap, that serve a significant price discovery function, and on contracts offered by foreign boards of trade, such as ICE Futures Europe, whose settlement prices are linked to U.S. futures contracts. Such a change would be a departure from the current format of the reports, which only classify large traders as hedgers or speculators and make it difficult to get a true picture of the marketplace. Many large derivative dealers, such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) or Morgan Stanley (MS), may declare themselves as hedgers even if their trading strategies combine price risk management and speculation. -By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@ dowjones.com CFTC NEWS: Release: 5684-09 CFTC Announces Inclusion of ICE Futures Europe Data in Weekly Commitments of Traders ReportsWashington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it will include positions of ICE Futures Europe exchange traders of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil contracts in its weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) reports. The announcement is in keeping with a July 7th statement by CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler that the agency would work to improve the transparency of the markets it oversees by providing additional data to the public. The first publication of this data will be in the July 28, 2009 COT report, to be released on Friday, July 31, 2009. “The CFTC has a responsibility to ensure that our markets are transparent and free from fraud, manipulation and other abuses,” Chairman Gensler said. “I am pleased to announce that we will this week begin fulfilling our commitment to greater transparency by including position data the CFTC receives for foreign contracts linked to the settlement price of domestic contracts. We will also continue our work to improve transparency of markets in other areas by providing additional and more relevant information in our weekly COT reports.” Last Updated: July 30, 2009
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