The Dodd-Frank Bill is a memorandum that “discusses several actions that public power entities will need to take with new reporting, record-keeping and other regulatory mandates once the extensive rule makings under the Act are complete” (Glover and Hamish 10). Among the critical areas that the bill addresses is in regard to financial reform measures, which allows “the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate the purchase and sale of commodity derivatives” (Glover and Hamish 12). The swaps described under this bill are used by the public power system to change the delivery risks, quantity and the commodity price related to their business.
There will be scores of regulatory proceedings, rule making and studies which will either impact directly or indirectly, on the companies that make use of energy derivatives. As such, this legislation is consequential and will have far-reaching impact as it will probably lead to major adjustments in the way activities of financial services are regulated, as well as the manner in which those activities are performed by international and domestic market participants.
Issues related with risks in regard to PCS systems and activities are reflected on section 802 of the Dodd-Frank Act. For instance, “the proper functioning of the financial markets is considered dependent upon safe and efficient arrangements for the clearing and settlement of payment, securities, and other financial transactions” (Glover and Hamish 15). This section gives the federal government the power to promote uniform risk management standards and provide and conduct an enhanced supervisory role over the activities of the financial institutions. In addition, it is the statutory obligation to strengthen the liquidity of systemically critical institutions.
To promote safety and reduce systemic risk, the congress found it important to enhance supervision and regulation of PCS and utilities that are very vital. This was in response to the realization that the financial institutions present risks to the financial system, as well as the participating financial institutions. The main approaches of achieving the basic objectives includes subjecting major participants and swap dealers to margin and capital requirements; imposing of centrally clearing of as many product types as possible and traded on comparable trading facilities or exchanges; and imposing of a mandatory public reporting of pricing data and transactions on both uncleared and cleared swaps. Essentially, there might be a significant impact on some thinly leveraged and capitalized investments funds which actually make some structures impracticable (U.S. Department of the Treasury 15).
The treasurer in particular was concerned with “the ability of payment and settlement systems to contribute to financial crises, rather than reduce them, potentially threatening the stability of U.S. and foreign financial markets” (U.S. Department of the Treasury 101).Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act joint regulation disallow financial institutions from “entering into incentive-based compensation arrangements that encourage inappropriate risks, either because they provide certain covered persons of the covered financial institutions with excessive compensation, or because they could lead to material financial loss to the covered financial institution” (U.S. Department of the Treasury 101). In addition, this section requires financial institutions which are covered to disclose “the structures of their incentive-based compensation arrangements in a manner sufficient to determine whether the foregoing prohibitions are being properly implemented” (U.S. Department of the Treasury 103).
Works cited
Glover, John and Risk, Hamish. Exchange-Traded Credit Derivatives Poised to Curb Bank Monopoly. New York: Bloomberg, 2006.56. Print.
U.S. Department of the Treasury. Financial Regulatory Reform-a New Foundation: Rebuilding financial supervision and regulation. Washington, DC: Blueprint, 2009.101-120. Print.