Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Bart Chilton said Friday that it was his “hope and expectation” that the agency would respond to numerous existing requests for clarification or relief of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act rules in the next few days. He also proposed a plan for the agency to move forward on the larger issues that are not likely to be addressed in the coming days.

“It’s time to clear the waters a bit regarding immediately pressing deadline dates. First of all, it’s my hope and expectation that responses to requests for clarification or relief on numerous of the existing requests will go out the next few days (by Friday), and that should go a long way toward addressing concerns. Once that clarity is provided on reasonable requests, then, of course, compliance with all final rules is required,” said the commissioner with the five-member CFTC.

But in the event the CFTC doesn’t answer people by Friday, Chilton said “it would not be appropriate, reasonable or responsible for the Commission to proceed against entities for non-compliance with a Dodd-Frank rule unless and until they have received a response from the agency to an existing request.”

Currently “we’ve got a couple hundred requests for clarification and/or regulatory relief in some fashion on approximately three dozen discrete issues…Every single request deserves a response,” he said.

Chilton said he was not talking about responses to “minuscule issues,” but rather said he was “focusing on the issues raised by those who have come to us already in good faith on substantial topics. They deserve clarity.”

If “folks haven’t sent us some kind of request, then we assume they will be fully compliant with all pending deadlines. Providing clarity as to current requests does not equate with some kind of ‘blanket pass’ on compliance,” he said Tuesday during an address before the High-Frequency Trading Leaders Forum in Chicago.

“To be clear, I’m not at all talking about an overall delay of regulatory reform requirements. It’s not about suggesting that we’ve done poor rules; we have not. It’s about making sure we move forward on the right track for markets and consumers, and ensuring our rules aren’t derailed down the line. So let’s…’pause and take a breath,'” Chilton said.

“I’m not about throwing punches at anyone as to how we got here — the fact is, these are the circumstances, and we play the ball where it lies. My ideas on how to do that will make sure we move the ball down the fairway. Bottom line: we need to respond appropriately and as quickly as possible to each request so that legitimate market activity is not disrupted or impeded.”

On Tuesday Chilton repeated his call for the CFTC to appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision tossing our the agency’s rule limiting speculative trading in commodity derivatives (see Daily GPI, Oct. 3).

“I’ve said we should immediately appeal. I hope we do so within days.” he said. “At the same time, I support approving yet another rulemaking regarding position limits. Here is why: in brief, the court opined that the Commission could impose limits on excessive speculation in two scenarios” — 1) if its finding of necessity for position limits reflects the “unambiguous language” of the Commodity Exchange Act, or 2) if the Commission provides a better justification for its action.

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