Waiving Requirement of Clause 6(a) of Rule XIII with Respect to Consideration of Certain Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, for the purpose of a colloquy, I would like to engage with the chairman of the committee and the drafter of this legislation. I congratulate him on the great work he has done on this reform bill.

Mr. Chairman, I want to call your attention to sections 726 and 765 of the bill. These two provisions require the CFTC and the SEC to conduct rulemakings to eliminate the conflicts of interest arising from the control of clearing and trading facilities by entities such as swap dealers and major swap participants.

This problem arises because, right now, 95 percent of all of the clearinghouses in this country are owned by just five banks. So, while we are relying on the clearinghouses to reduce systemic risk, we have the banks now owning the clearinghouses.

The question I have is regarding the intent of the conferees in retaining subsection B of these provisions. It could be loosely construed to leave it up to the agencies whether or not to adopt rules.

Mr. Chairman, do you agree that my reading of sections 726 and 765 affirmatively require these agencies to adopt strong conflict of interest rules on control and governance of clearing and trading facilities?

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