They added, "Reform and legal clarifications are imperative for the U.S. futures industry and U.S. firms engaged in the $80 trillion global over-the-counter derivatives business. Both of these industries face very stiff competition from overseas, and failure to pass legislation may cause the loss of U.S. business as transactions move to other countries. Clearly, the impact on our economy from lost jobs and tax revenue would be significant."

The House of Representatives last week passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, H.R.4541, by a vote of 377 to 4. A similar version of this bill, S.2697, passed the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously in June.

Lugar said the bill is supported by the Clinton Administration, all four members of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and virtually all of the futures and derivatives industry, is the culmination of years of Congressional hearings, consensus building and legislative compromise

The bill reauthorizes the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) for five years and reforms the CEA in three primary ways: incorporating the unanimous recommendations of the President's Working Group (PWG) on the proper legal and regulatory treatment of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives; codifying the regulatory relief proposal of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to ensure that futures exchanges are appropriately regulated and remain competitive; and reforming the Shad-Johnson jurisdictional accord to allow financial exchanges to trade single stock futures.