Regulacje rynkowe · 16.04.1998
Trade Options on the Enumerated Agricultural Commodities
Generally, the offer or sale of commodity options is prohibited except on designated contract markets. 17 CFR 32.11. One of several specified exceptions to the general prohibition on off-exchange options is for ``trade options.'' Trade options are off-exchange options ``offered by a person having a reasonable basis to believe that the option is offered to'' a person or entity within the categories of commercial users specified in the rule, where such commercial user ``is offered or enters into the transaction solely for purposes related to its business as such.'' 17 CFR 32.4(a). Trade options, however, are not permitted on the agricultural commodities which are enumerated in the Commodity Exchange Act (Act). 7 U.S.C. 1a(3). The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission or CFTC) is removing the prohibition on off-exchange trade options on the enumerated agricultural commodities pursuant to a three-year pilot program. Because it intends to reexamine these rules during and at the conclusion of the pilot program, these rules are being promulgated as interim final rule (interim rules). The interim rules, like the proposed rules, permit only agricultural trade options which, if ex