FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: CHRISTI HARLAN / ANDY FISHER
Monday, December 20, 1999 202-224-0894 202-224-2079

LUGAR, GRAMM SEEK DETAILED REPORT
ON STOCK FUTURES, COMMODITY LEGISLATION

In preparation for the reauthorization of the Commodity Exchange Act, the chairmen of the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Banking Committee have asked for a detailed study of whether Congress should lift the current ban on futures on single stocks.

Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and Senator Phil Gramm, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, requested the study in a letter to the chairmen of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"This letter underscores the close working relationship that Senator Lugar and I have developed," Gramm said. "This will help us next year as our committees take on the reauthorization of the Commodity Exchange Act and coordinate the regulation of the securities and futures markets."

The Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee share jurisdiction over derivatives, such as swaps and futures.

"In the past year the Senate Agriculture Committee has held comprehensive hearings on the Commodity Exchange Act and other issues related to the CFTC regulation of the futures markets," Lugar said. "We hope this gives us a good jump on the reauthorization process in 2000. I look forward to working with Chairman Gramm, Congressman Tom Ewing and others on this important legislation."

Click here to view the one-page letter from Lugar and Gramm.

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