[20080707]RS21401_能源衍生品监管.pdf

Order Code RS21401Updated July 7, 2008Regulation of Energy DerivativesMark JicklingSpecialist in Financial EconomicsGovernment and Finance DivisionSummaryAfter the collapse of Enron Corp. in late 2001, that companys activities cameunder intense scrutiny. Much of its business consisted of trading financial contractswhose value was derived from changes in energy prices. Enrons derivatives tradingwas largely “over-the-counter” (OTC) and unregulated: little information abouttransactions was available. Trading in energy derivatives rebounded after a post-Enronslump, and much of the market remains unregulated. This “regulatory gap” strikes someobservers as dangerous for two reasons. First, the absence of government oversight mayfacilitate abusive trading or price manipulation. A June 2007 report by the SenatePermanent Subcommittee on Investigations concluded that excessive speculation by theAmaranth hedge fund, which failed in 2006, distorted natural gas prices. Second, thefailure of a large derivatives dealer could conceivably trigger disruptions of supplies andprices in physical oil and gas markets (though the effect was minor in the Enron case).A number of bills before the 110th Congr