ICE’s Sprecher calls for equal treatment amid US market reforms – EXPO

Speaking at the FIA Expo event in Chicago on Monday Jeff Sprecher said that the relationship between Michael Selig – the nominee to chair the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) – and Paul Atkins who heads the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would help bolster efforts to increase co-operation between market regulators.

“For those of us that are regulated by both, we see pretty big gaps,” Sprecher (pictured) said at the event. “For example, under Dodd-Frank both agencies were tasked with coming up with rulemaking and I’m not sure the SEC has even finished [that process] and they didn’t necessarily respect what each other had put in place.

“It just feels like there is an opportunity here because of the personal relationship between the two of them to maybe forge a better relationship and make those of us that are regulated a little bit more accommodated.”

The SEC jointly hosted an event with the CFTC aimed at harmonising rules and increasing co-operation at the end of September. Sprecher reiterated some concerns that new rules aimed at fostering innovation may disadvantage established exchanges.

“What I hope is that we don’t rewrite the rules but we augment the rules with respect to new technology - whether you and I need to transact out here on the street with paper currency and paper certificates or whether we use any other form of technology for buyers and sellers to come together, that we are all treated the same,” Sprecher said.

“That technology is not the defining act, but it is the transaction itself [in terms of] the way we handle other people’s money and approach each other. I think that’s the direction they are heading.”