CFTC To Propose Rule To Address Exchange Disaster Backup Systems
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler said Thursday his agency plans to float a proposal pertaining to the backup functions of an exchange in the event of a major disaster.
WASHINGTON – (Dow Jones) – Gensler made his comments during a hearing before a Senate panel to discuss the reasons why the stock market plunged on May 6, 2010 before staging a partial recovery.
Although market regulators have said they do not believe the plunge occurred due to intentional acts such as an act of terrorism, Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities Chairman Jack Reed (D., R.I.) still asked about what regulators have in place to address disruptions in trading due to a disaster or attack.
Gensler told Reed and later told reporters that a rule proposal on that topic is pending. “Disaster recovery or backup recovery is a concept that if something were to occur to any facility, whether it is a government or in this circumstance an exchange or clearinghouse, they have other facilities not at the same place to back up the critical functions of that facility,” he said.
Gensler declined to provide details on what issues the rules will address specifically related to backup recovery or what problems may exist today with exchanges’ backup systems.
-By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@ dowjones.com
Tags: CFTC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Exchange Disaster Recovery, regulations, regulatory
