Received CFTC 

Records Section 

&J/7/d7 

August 17, 2009 

Docket ID No.: fr02jy09-11 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) 

David Stawick, Secretary 

Three Lafayette Centre COMMENT 

1155 21st Street, N .W. 

Washington, DC 20581 

Re: "ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL REPORT" 

VIA ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION 

INTRODUCTION 

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The Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) is a leading national trade association in the p~leu~industry representing 8,000 independent petroleum marketing companies. It is organized as a national federation~47 ~te and 

regional trade associations who represent wholesalers and retailers of gasoline, diesel, heating oil, lubricants and 

renewable fuels. PMAA companies own 60,000 retail fuel outlets such as gas stations, convenience stores and truck 

stops. Additionally, these companies supply motor fuels to 40,000 independently owned retail outlets and heating oil to 

seven million households and businesses. 

The New England Fuel Institute (NEFI) is a 60-year-old trade association representing approximately 1,200 heating fuel 

dealers and related services companies in the Northeastern United States. NEFI member companies are mostly small, 

diversified family-owned and operated home energy companies that market a variety of products, including heating oil, 

bioheat, propane, and kerosene, and many also market biofuels, jet fuel, off-road diesel and motor vehicle fuels. 

The following are PMAA's and NEFI's joint comments about collecting certain ownership, control and reporting (OCR) 

information for all trading accounts active on U.S. futures exchanges. The Commission anticipates that most reporting will 

come from designated contract markets (DCMs), but it could be any registered entity that provides data to the. 

Commission on a regular basis. PMAA and NEFI support the Commission's efforts to acquire all information from 

designated contract markets (DCMs), exempt commercial markets (ECMs), and derivatives transaction execution facilities 

(DTEFs) to improve market transparency and integrity. 

COMMENTS 

PMAA and NEFI would like to thank the Commissioners, particularly Chairman Gensler, for their hard work and 

commitment to bring greater transparency and accountability to commodity futures markets. Our members recognize that 

transparency is part of the solution to bring integrity and efficiency to- and most of all, to restore public confidence in the 

futures markets, which have experienced extreme volatility and have become increasingly disjointed from supply and 

demand fundamentals in recent years. Because these markets have evolved from an open-outcry system to global 

electronic platforms, it is important that every bank holding company, investment fund and its subsidiaries, and any other 

relevant trader reveal their trading account number, names, addresses, last four digits of the account's owners and 

controllers Social Security numbers, and any other applicable information for the Commission to incorporate into the 

"Ownership and Control Report" to effectively oversee futures markets. Information obtained in the "OCR" will assist the 

CFTC to ensure that futures markets are not being manipulated. 
We wge the Commission to continue to work with exchanges who have received letters of no-action to report the 

information listed above in order to improve market oversight. We hope the agreement between CFTC and the Financial 

Services Authority (FSA) to share data on traders' positions will be included in the "OCR Report." We also continue to 

encourage the CFTC to acknowledge the global nature of these markets by increasing its cooperation with other foreign 

and international regulators in pursuit of increased transparency and the prevention of fraud, manipulation and excessive 

speculation. 

Efficient integration of large trader and trade register data from DCMs, ECMs, and DTEFs will improve market 

transparency and ensure that no one trader, investment fund or other entity controls a large percentage of the open 

interest on commodity futures exchanges. Increased reporting requirements will help to identify those who possibly 

attempt to corner the market by taking huge positions in the futures markets which can move futures prices beyond what 

supply and demand fundamentals dictate. 

Furthermore, the limited oversight of the futures markets is a serious national security risk because a sovereign wealth 

fund or individuals within a rogue nation could damage the American economy and make billions in the futures markets, 

and no one would know. Increased reporting requirements from all types of exchanges will assist the Commission to 

make better informed decisions in regulating futures exchanges. 

CONCLUSION 

PMAA and NEFI view the Commission's efforts as the first step toward effectively regulating commodity futures/swaps 

markets. While increased transparency will assist the Commission in possibly applying hard position limits on noncommercial entities trading finite commodities, it will ultimately be up to the United States Congress to give the 

Commission the additional authorities and resources it needs in order to complete its mission of protecting the American 

public against fraud, manipulation, excessive speculation and abusive and unethical trading activities in the commodity 

markets. By requiring that trading activity occur out in the open and be made subject to the same anti-fraud and antimanipulation rules that exist for regulated exchanges like the NYMEX, this will help reign in excessive speculation, 

mitigate oil price volatility, and restore integrity and confidence in the futures markets. 

We strongly support the free exchange of commodity futures on open, well-regulated and transparent exchanges that are 

subject to the rule of law, oversight and accountability. Reliable futures markets are crucial to the entire petroleum 

industry and the American economy. · 

Again, we would like to thank the Commission for its dedication to increase needed transparency in the commodity futures 

markets. 

Sincerely, 

Dan Gilligan 

. PMAA President 

Shane Sweet 

NEFI CEO 

Petroleum Marketers Association of America, 1901 North Ft. Myer Drive · Suite 500 Arlington VA, 22209 Tel: (703) 351-8000 inlo@pmaa.org 

New England Fuel Institute, P.O. Box 9137, Watertown, MA 02.471-9137, Office: (617) 924-1000, www.nefi.com