Statement Of CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad In Support Of The Proposed Amendment To The RTO-ISO Order

The proposal we have approved today would amend a 2013 CFTC order that exempted specified transactions of six independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs) from certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA). That order explicitly did not exempt ISOs and RTOs from the general CEA provisions that prohibit fraud and manipulation. If adopted, the proposed amendment would make clear that this exemption does not prohibit private rights of action for violations of the very same anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions that are explicitly reserved in the order.