New York Mercantile Exchange's Proposal To Permit Exchange of Futures for, or in Connection With, Futures Transactions in Brent Crude Oil Futures Contracts

Résumé

The New York Mercantile Exchange ("NYMEX" or "Exchange") has requested that the Commission approve proposed new Rule 6.21D to permit EFF transactions in the Exchange's Brent Crude Oil ("Brent") futures contract. The proposed new rule would establish a non- competitive trading procedure that would operate in a manner that is analogous in some respects to block trading rules and in other respects to exchange of futures for physicals ("EFP") rules currently in operation at some exchanges. NYMEX intends for the proposal to enable "eligible contract participants," as that term is defined by section 1a(12) of the Commodity Exchange Act, to liquidate open positions in Exchange-specified substantially equivalent contracts at another exchange and to establish comparable positions in the Exchange's Brent contract. The proposed rule essentially provides a mechanism to transfer Brent futures positions from another exchange to NYMEX. NYMEX proposes to implement the rule on a one-year pilot program basis. Acting pursuant to the authority delegated by Commission Regulation 140.96(b), the Division of Trading and Markets, in concurrence with the Division of Economic Analysis and the Office of Gener