Liz Friedlander (202) 225-1564
Liz.Friedlander@mail.house.gov

James Ryder (202) 225-0020
James.Ryder@mail.house.gov

Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell of Iowa, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management, held a hearing to review two proposals received by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to create exchanges that would trade derivatives based on box office receipts.

The House Agriculture Committee has jurisdiction over the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which must approve the proposals to establish the movie futures exchanges and the contracts that would be traded on those exchanges.

The Subcommittee heard testimony from CFTC’s General Counsel, as well as from the organizations that have applied to establish the exchanges and representatives of the movie industry.

“Today’s hearing on movie box office derivatives was an important opportunity to investigate another potential financial product and to determine how this would fit into our current regulatory and financial environment,” Chairman Boswell said. “Mitigating financial risk is a primary reason for futures exchanges, and we must ensure that we support policies that enable legitimate players, like end-users, to use these products to hedge their risk. I am especially pleased that this hearing was held today as the Senate Agriculture Committee has just passed legislation that would prohibit an exchange on movie box office derivatives.”

“Today’s hearing gave us an opportunity to learn more about these exchanges and contracts, and to hear the concerns of interested parties,” said Ranking Member Jerry Moran. “It also provided helpful insight into the process used by the CFTC in approving these exchanges.”

Written testimony provided by the witnesses is available on the Committee website: http://democrats-agriculture.house.gov/hearings/index.html. A full transcript of the hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a later date.

Witness List:

Panel I

Mr. Dan Berkovitz, General Counsel, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Washington, D.C.

Panel II

Mr. Richard Jaycobs, President, Cantor Futures Exchange, L.P., New York, New York

Mr. Robert Swagger, Chief Executive Officer, Media Derivatives, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona

Mr. Robert Pisano, President and Chief Operating Officer/Interim Chief Executive Officer, Motion Picture Association of America, Inc., Washington, D.C.

Mr. Scott Harbinson, International Representative, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, on behalf of IATSE and Directors Guild of America, Ellicott City, Maryland

Mr. Schuyler M. Moore, Partner, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, Los Angeles, California

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