From Greg Lawrence of GT Boston and Harris Kay of GT Chicago:
On May 19, 2015, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a proposed order exempting certain categories of Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) electric energy transactions from all but the antifraud and anti-manipulation provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) (the Proposed Exemption). In the preamble to the Proposed Exemption, CFTC articulates for the first time its belief that such exemptions do not eviscerate private rights of action available to third parties under the CEA, stating that it “did not intend to create such a limitation,” and believes that such exemptions do not prevent private claims for fraud or manipulation under the CEA. 80 Fed. Reg. 29490 (May 19, 2015).1 CFTC’s statement followed on the heels of a decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, in Aspire Commodities, LP, et al. v. GDF SUEZ Energy North America, Inc., et al., Case No. 4:14-cv-01111 (S.D. Tex. April 22, 2014).
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