Two senators introduced legislation shortly before adjournment of the 113th Congress to limit the ability of banking organizations active in physical-commodity trading to use information derived from operations in this sector. Although the legislation will need to be reintroduced in the next Congress to have any chance of enactment, it puts pressure on the FRB in the interim to address this question in long-pending policy on the extent to which large BHCs may both trade in and hold physical commodities and related operational capacity. This legislation would also reduce the edge both national and state member banks enjoy in trading and holding more limited classes of physical commodities because limits on use of proprietary information would also apply to them.
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