II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3129 

To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prevent price manipulation and 

excessive speculation and to increase transparency with respect to energy 

trading on foreign exchanges conducted within the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 12, 2008 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. DORGAN, and Mr. 

BINGAMAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to prevent price 

manipulation and excessive speculation and to increase 

transparency with respect to energy trading on foreign 

exchanges conducted within the United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Close the London 

5 Loophole Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMISSION AUTHORITY OVER TRADERS. 

7 Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 

8 6) is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(e) COMMISSION AUTHORITY OVER TRADERS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of this section or any determination made 

4 by the Commission to grant relief from the require5 ments of subsection (a) to become a designated con6 tract market, derivatives transaction execution facil7 ity, or other registered entity, in the case of a person 

8 located within the United States, or otherwise sub9 ject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, trading 

10 on a foreign board of trade, exchange, or market lo11 cated outside the United States (including the terri12 tories and or possessions of the United States), the 

13 Commission shall have authority under this Act— 

14 ‘‘(A) to apply and enforce section 9, in15 cluding provisions relating to manipulation or 

16 attempted manipulation, the making of false 

17 statements, and willful violations of this Act; 

18 ‘‘(B) to require or direct the person to 

19 limit, reduce, or liquidate any position to pre20 vent or reduce the threat of price manipulation, 

21 excessive speculation, price distortion, or dis22 ruption of delivery or the cash settlement proc23 ess; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) to apply such recordkeeping require2 ments as the Commission determines are nec3 essary. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—Prior to the issuance of 

5 any order under paragraph (1) to reduce a position 

6 on a foreign board of trade, exchange, or market lo7 cated outside the United States (including the terri8 tories and possessions of the United States), the 

9 Commission shall consult with the foreign board of 

10 trade, exchange, or market and the appropriate reg11 ulatory authority. 

12 ‘‘(3) ADMINISTRATION.—Nothing in this sub13 section limits any of the otherwise applicable au14 thorities of the Commission.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. SPECULATIVE LIMITS AND TRANSPARENCY FOR 

16 OFF-SHORE OIL TRADING. 

17 Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 

18 6) (as amended by section 2) is amended by adding at 

19 the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(f) FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any foreign 

22 board of trade for which the Commission has grant23 ed or is considering an application to grant a board 

24 of trade located outside of the United States relief 

25 from the requirement of subsection (a) to become a 


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1 designated contract market, derivatives transaction 

2 execution facility, or other registered entity, with re3 spect to an energy commodity that is physically de4 livered in the United States, prior to continuing to 

5 or initially granting the relief, the Commission shall 

6 determine that the foreign board of trade— 

7 ‘‘(A) applies comparable principles or re8 quirements regarding the daily publication of 

9 trading information and position limits or ac10 countability levels for speculators as apply to a 

11 designated contract market, derivatives trans12 action execution facility, or other registered en13 tity trading energy commodities physically deliv14 ered in the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(B) provides such information to the 

16 Commission regarding the extent of speculative 

17 and nonspeculative trading in the energy com18 modity that is comparable to the information 

19 the Commission determines necessary to publish 

20 a Commitment of Traders report for a des21 ignated contract market, derivatives transaction 

22 execution facility, or other registered entity 

23 trading energy commodities physically delivered 

24 in the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXISTING FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 

2 During the period beginning 1 year after the date of 

3 enactment of this subsection and ending 18 months 

4 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

5 Commission shall determine whether to continue to 

6 grant relief in accordance with paragraph (1) to any 

7 foreign board of trade for which the Commission 

8 granted relief prior to the date of enactment of this 

9 subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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