CFTC Approves Proposed Rules On Position Limits

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) proposed new rules on speculative position limits and, separately, on the aggregation of related accounts.¹ These proposals replace the position limit rules that were approved on October 18, 2011, but vacated in US District Court.² The following is a brief summary of the proposals. The public will have 60 days from publication to comment in the Federal Register.

I. What are the proposed position limits rules?

The proposed rules would impose speculative position limits in 28 physical commodity contracts—19 agricultural contracts, four energy contracts, and five metals contracts.³ These limits would apply to futures, options, and their economically equivalent swaps. In accordance with Commission precedent, the limits will apply separately to Spot Month, Single Months and All-Months-Combined.