The bill and proposed amendments before us will provide legal certainty to end users using the swaps market to hedge legitimate business risks. As we all know, end users had nothing to do with the financial crisis and should not be regulated as such.
Opening Statement by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson
Business Meeting to Consider H.R. 1317
--As Prepared for Delivery--
“Good Morning and thank you, Chairman Conaway, for holding this markup.
“The bill and proposed amendments before us will provide legal certainty to end users using the swaps market to hedge legitimate business risks. As we all know, end users had nothing to do with the financial crisis and should not be regulated as such.
“When writing Dodd-Frank, we made sure that end users would be exempt from Title Seven’s clearing requirement. Once amended, H.R. 1317 will continue that effort, making a needed refinement to Section 723.
“H.R. 1317 will make clear that end users facing the market through Central Treasury Units and hedging legitimate business risk will be exempt from Title Seven’s swaps clearing requirements. These changes are narrowly tailored to protect against abuse, ensuring market integrity and legal certainty for end users.
“Both market participants and market watchdogs support this language, which was drafted with the input of the CFTC.
“This bill is another example of the Agriculture Committee working together in a bipartisan manner and I urge the members vote in support. I thank the Chair and yield back.”
