SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commodity Markets 
Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title. 
Sec. 2. Table of contents. 
Sec. 3. Definition of energy commodity. 
Sec. 4. Speculative limits and transparency of off-shore trading. 
Sec. 5. Disaggregation of index funds and other data in energy and agriculture 
markets. 
Sec. 6. Detailed reporting from index traders and swap dealers. 
Sec. 7. Transparency and recordkeeping authorities. 
Sec. 8. Trading limits to prevent excessive speculation. 
Sec. 9. Modifications to core principles applicable to position limits for con-
tracts in agricultural and energy commodities. 
Sec. 10. CFTC Administration. 
Sec. 11. Review of prior actions. 
Sec. 12. Review of over-the-counter markets. 
Sec. 13. Studies; reports. 
Sec. 14. Over-the-counter authority. 
Sec. 15. Expedited process. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF ENERGY COMMODITY. 
(a) DEFINITION OF ENERGY COMMODITY.—Section 
1a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 
(34) as paragraphs (14) through (35), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(13) ENERGY COMMODITY.—The term ‘energy 
commodity’ means— 
‘‘(A) coal;
‘‘(B) crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet 
fuel, heating oil, and propane; 
‘‘(C) electricity; 
‘‘(D) natural gas; and 
‘‘(E) any other substance that is used as 
a source of energy, as the Commission, in its 
discretion, deems appropriate.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 2(c)(2)(B)(i)(II)(cc) of the Com-
modity 
Exchange 
Act 
(7 
U.S.C. 
2(c)(2)(B)(i)(II)(cc)) is amended— 
(A) in subitem (AA), by striking ‘‘section 
1a(20)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1a(21)’’; and 
(B) in subitem (BB), by striking ‘‘section 
1a(20)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1a(21)’’. 
(2) Section 13106(b)(1) of the Food, Conserva-
tion, and Energy Act of 2008 is amended by striking 
‘‘section 1a(32)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1a’’. 
(3) Section 402 of the Legal Certainty for 
Bank Products Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 27) is amend-
ed— 
(A) in subsection (a)(7), by striking ‘‘sec-
tion 1a(20)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 1a’’; and 
(B) in subsection (d)—
(i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 
‘‘section 1a(33)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
1a’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking 
‘‘section 1a(13)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
1a’’. 
SEC. 4. SPECULATIVE LIMITS AND TRANSPARENCY OF OFF- 
SHORE TRADING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4 of the Commodity Ex-
change Act (7 U.S.C. 6) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(e) FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may not 
permit a foreign board of trade to provide to the 
members of the foreign board of trade or other par-
ticipants located in the United States direct access 
to the electronic trading and order matching system 
of the foreign board of trade with respect to an 
agreement, contract, or transaction in an energy or 
agricultural commodity that settles against any price 
(including the daily or final settlement price) of 1 or 
more contracts listed for trading on a registered en-
tity, unless— 
‘‘(A) the foreign board of trade makes pub-
lic daily trading information regarding the
agreement, contract, or transaction that is com-
parable to the daily trading information pub-
lished by the registered entity for the 1 or more 
contracts against which the agreement, con-
tract, or transaction traded on the foreign 
board of trade settles; and 
‘‘(B) the foreign board of trade (or the for-
eign futures authority that oversees the foreign 
board of trade)— 
‘‘(i) adopts position limits (including 
related hedge exemption provisions) for the 
agreement, contract, or transaction that 
are comparable, taking into consideration 
the relative sizes of the respective markets, 
to the position limits (including related 
hedge exemption provisions) adopted by 
the registered entity for the 1 or more con-
tracts against which the agreement, con-
tract, or transaction traded on the foreign 
board of trade settles; 
‘‘(ii) has the authority to require or 
direct market participants to limit, reduce, 
or liquidate any position the foreign board 
of trade (or the foreign futures authority 
that oversees the foreign board of trade)
determines to be necessary to prevent or 
reduce the threat of price manipulation, 
excessive speculation as described in sec-
tion 4a, price distortion, or disruption of 
delivery or the cash settlement process; 
‘‘(iii) agrees to promptly notify the 
Commission of any change regarding— 
‘‘(I) the information that the for-
eign board of trade will make publicly 
available; 
‘‘(II) the position limits that the 
foreign board of trade or foreign fu-
tures authority will adopt and enforce; 
‘‘(III) the position reductions re-
quired to prevent manipulation, exces-
sive speculation as described in sec-
tion 4a, price distortion, or disruption 
of delivery or the cash settlement 
process; and 
‘‘(IV) any other area of interest 
expressed by the Commission to the 
foreign board of trade or foreign fu-
tures authority; 
‘‘(iv) provides information to the 
Commission regarding large trader posi-
tions in the agreement, contract, or trans-
action that is comparable to the large trad-
er position information collected by the 
Commission for the 1 or more contracts 
against which the agreement, contract, or 
transaction traded on the foreign board of 
trade settles; and 
‘‘(v) provides the Commission with in-
formation necessary to publish reports on 
aggregate trader positions for the agree-
ment, contract, or transaction traded on 
the foreign board of trade that are com-
parable to such reports for 1 or more con-
tracts against which the agreement, con-
tract, or transaction traded on the foreign 
board of trade settles. 
‘‘(2) EXISTING FOREIGN BOARDS OF TRADE.— 
Paragraph (1) shall not be effective with respect to 
any agreement, contract, or transaction in an energy 
commodity executed on a foreign board of trade to 
which the Commission had granted direct access 
permission before the date of the enactment of this 
subsection until the date that is 180 days after such 
date of enactment.’’.
(b) LIABILITY OF REGISTERED PERSONS TRADING 
ON A FOREIGN BOARD OF TRADE.— 
(1) Section 4(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 6(a)) is 
amended by inserting ‘‘or by subsection (f)’’ after 
‘‘Unless exempted by the Commission pursuant to 
subsection (c)’’. 
(2) Section 4 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 6) is fur-
ther amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) A person registered with the Commission, or ex-
empt from registration by the Commission, under this Act 
may not be found to have violated subsection (a) with re-
spect to a transaction in, or in connection with, a contract 
of sale of a commodity for future delivery if the person 
has reason to believe the transaction and the contract is 
made on or subject to the rules of a board of trade that 
is legally organized under the laws of a foreign country, 
authorized to act as a board of trade by a foreign futures 
authority, subject to regulation by the foreign futures au-
thority, and has not been determined by the Commission 
to be operating in violation of subsection (a).’’. 
(c) CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT FOR FOREIGN FU-
TURES CONTRACTS.—Section 22(a) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
25(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) A contract of sale of a commodity for fu-
ture delivery traded or executed on or through the
facilities of a board of trade, exchange, or market lo-
cated outside the United States for purposes of sec-
tion 4(a) shall not be void, voidable, or unenforce-
able, and a party to such a contract shall not be en-
titled to rescind or recover any payment made with 
respect to the contract, based on the failure of the 
foreign board of trade to comply with any provision 
of this Act.’’. 
SEC. 5. DISAGGREGATION OF INDEX FUNDS AND OTHER 
DATA IN ENERGY AND AGRICULTURE MAR-
KETS. 
Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
6), as amended by section 4 of this Act, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) DISAGGREGATION
OF
INDEX
FUNDS
AND 
OTHER DATA
IN ENERGY
AND AGRICULTURE MAR-
KETS.—Subject to section 8 and beginning within 30 days 
of the issuance of the final rule required by section 4(h), 
the Commission shall disaggregate and make public week-
ly— 
‘‘(1) the number of positions and total value of 
index funds and other passive, long-only and short- 
only positions (as defined by the Commission) in all 
energy and agricultural markets to the extent such 
information is available; and
‘‘(2) data on speculative positions relative to 
bona fide physical hedgers in those markets to the 
extent such information is available.’’. 
SEC. 6. DETAILED REPORTING FROM INDEX TRADERS AND 
SWAP DEALERS. 
Section 4 of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
6), as amended by sections 4 and 5 of this Act, is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) INDEX TRADERS AND SWAP DEALERS REPORT-
ING.—The Commission shall issue a proposed rule defin-
ing and classifying index traders and swap dealers (as 
those terms are defined by the Commission) for purposes 
of data reporting requirements and setting routine de-
tailed reporting requirements for such entities in des-
ignated contract markets, derivatives transaction execu-
tion facilities, foreign boards of trade subject to section 
4(e), and electronic trading facilities with respect to sig-
nificant price discovery contracts with respect to exempt 
and agricultural commodities not later than 60 days after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, and issue 
a final rule within 120 days after such date of enact-
ment.’’.
SEC. 7. TRANSPARENCY AND RECORDKEEPING AUTHORI-
TIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4g(a) of the Commodity 
Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 6g(a)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘a’’ before ‘‘futures commission 
merchant’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘and transactions and positions 
traded pursuant to subsection (g), (h)(1), or (h)(2) 
of section 2, or any exemption issued by the Com-
mission by rule, regulation or order,’’ after ‘‘United 
States or elsewhere,’’. 
(b) REPORTS OF DEALS EQUAL TO OR IN EXCESS 
OF TRADING LIMITS.—Section 4i of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
6i) is amended— 
(1) in the first sentence— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘It shall’’; 
and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘in the United States or 
elsewhere, and of transactions and positions in 
any such commodity entered into pursuant to 
subsection (g), (h)(1), or (h)(2) of section 2, or 
any exemption issued by the Commission by 
rule, regulation or order’’ before ‘‘, and of cash 
or spot’’; and 
(2) by striking all that follows the 1st sentence 
and inserting the following:
‘‘(b) With respect to agricultural and energy com-
modities, upon special call by the Commission, any person 
shall provide to the Commission, in a form and manner 
and within the period specified in the special call, books 
and records of all transactions and positions traded on or 
subject to the rules of any board of trade or electronic 
trading facility in the United States or elsewhere, or pur-
suant to subsection (g), (h)(1), or (h)(2) of section 2, or 
any exemption issued by the Commission by rule, regula-
tion, or order, as the Commission may determine appro-
priate to deter and prevent price manipulation or any 
other disruption to market integrity or to diminish, elimi-
nate, or prevent excessive speculation as described in sec-
tion 4a(a). 
‘‘(c) Such books and records described in subsections 
(a) and (b) shall show complete details concerning all such 
transactions, positions, inventories, and commitments, in-
cluding the names and addresses of all persons having any 
interest therein, shall be kept for a period of 5 years, and 
shall be open at all times to inspection by any representa-
tive of the Commission or the Department of Justice. For 
the purposes of this section, the futures and cash or spot 
transactions and positions of any person shall include such 
transactions and positions of any persons directly or indi-
rectly controlled by the person.’’.
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 2(g) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 2(g)) is 
amended— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘4g(a), 4i,’’ before ‘‘5a 
(to’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘, and the regulations of 
the Commission pursuant to section 4i(b) re-
quiring reporting in connection with commodity 
option transactions,’’ before ‘‘shall apply’’. 
(2) Section 2(h)(2)(A) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
2(h)(2)(A)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(A) 
sections 
4g(a), 
4i, 
5b 
and 
12(e)(2)(B), and the regulations of the Com-
mission pursuant to section 4i(b) requiring re-
porting in connection with commodity option 
transactions;’’. 
SEC. 8. TRADING LIMITS TO PREVENT EXCESSIVE SPECU-
LATION. 
Section 4a of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 
6a) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(a)’’; and 
(B) by adding after and below the end the 
following:
‘‘(2) In accordance with the standards set forth in 
paragraph (1) of this subsection and consistent with the 
good faith exception cited in subsection (b)(2), with re-
spect to agricultural commodities enumerated in section 
1a(4) and energy commodities, the Commission, within 60 
days after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, 
shall by rule, regulation, or order establish limits on the 
amount of positions, other than bona fide hedge positions, 
that may be held by any person with respect to contracts 
of sale for future delivery or with respect to options on 
such contracts or commodities traded on or subject to the 
rules of a contract market or derivatives transaction exe-
cution facility, or on an electronic trading facility as a sig-
nificant price discovery contract. 
‘‘(3) In establishing the limits required in paragraph 
(2), the Commission shall set limits— 
‘‘(A) on the number of positions that may be 
held by any person for the spot month, each other 
month, and the aggregate number of positions that 
may be held by any person for all months; 
‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, in its 
discretion— 
‘‘(i) to diminish, eliminate, or prevent ex-
cessive speculation as described under this sec-
tion;
‘‘(ii) to deter and prevent market manipu-
lation, squeezes, and corners; 
‘‘(iii) to ensure sufficient market liquidity 
for bona fide hedgers; and 
‘‘(iv) to ensure that the price discovery 
function of the underlying market is not dis-
rupted; and 
‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, in its 
discretion, take into account the total number of po-
sitions in fungible agreements, contracts, or trans-
actions that a person can hold in agricultural and 
energy commodities in other markets. 
‘‘(4)(A) Not later than 150 days after the date of 
the enactment of this paragraph, the Commission shall 
convene a Position Limit Agricultural Advisory Group and 
a Position Limit Energy Group, each group consisting of 
representatives from— 
‘‘(i) 7 predominantly commercial short hedgers 
of the actual physical commodity for future delivery; 
‘‘(ii) 7 predominantly commercial long hedgers 
of the actual physical commodity for future delivery; 
‘‘(iii) 4 non-commercial participants in markets 
for commodities for future delivery; and 
‘‘(iv) each designated contract market or de-
rivatives transaction execution facility upon which a
contract in the commodity for future delivery is 
traded, and each electronic trading facility that has 
a significant price discovery contract in the com-
modity. 
‘‘(B) Not later than 60 days after the date on which 
the advisory groups are convened under subparagraph (A), 
and annually thereafter, the advisory groups shall submit 
to the Commission advisory recommendations regarding 
the position limits to be established in paragraph (2) and 
a recommendation as to whether the position limits should 
be administered directly by the Commission, or by the reg-
istered entity on which the commodity is listed (with en-
forcement by both the registered entity and the Commis-
sion).’’; and 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and 
(B) by adding after and below the end the 
following: 
‘‘(2) With respect to agricultural and energy com-
modities, for the purposes of contracts of sale for future 
delivery and options on such contracts or commodities, the 
Commission shall define what constitutes a bona fide 
hedging transaction or position as a transaction or posi-
tion that—
‘‘(A)(i) represents a substitute for transactions 
to be made or positions to be taken at a later time 
in a physical marketing channel; 
‘‘(ii) is economically appropriate to the reduc-
tion of risks in the conduct and management of a 
commercial enterprise; and 
‘‘(iii) arises from the potential change in the 
value of— 
‘‘(I) assets that a person owns, produces, 
manufactures, processes, or merchandises or 
anticipates owning, producing, manufacturing, 
processing, or merchandising; 
‘‘(II) liabilities that a person owns or an-
ticipates incurring; or 
‘‘(III) services that a person provides, pur-
chases, or anticipates providing or purchasing; 
or 
‘‘(B) reduces risks attendant to a position re-
sulting from a transaction that— 
‘‘(i) was executed pursuant to subsection 
(g), (h)(1), or (h)(2) of section 2, or an exemp-
tion issued by the Commission by rule, regula-
tion or order; and 
‘‘(ii) was executed opposite a counterparty 
for which the transaction would qualify as a