Chris:

I would like to be kept up to date on who the potential candidates are.  We 
are planning on inviting Newsome to speak at our ISDA conference in March.

Thanks,

Mark



	Chris Long@ENRON
	01/08/2001 09:14 AM
		 
		 To: Mark E Haedicke/HOU/ECT@ECT, Mark Taylor/HOU/ECT@ECT, Richard 
Shapiro/NA/Enron@Enron, Linda Robertson/NA/Enron@ENRON, Cynthia 
Sandherr/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Lisa Yoho/NA/Enron@Enron, Tom Briggs/NA/Enron@Enron
		 cc: Allison Navin/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Ginger Dernehl/NA/Enron@Enron
		 Subject: 

As the Bush transition moves forward, we need to monitor (or perhaps try to 
influence) the selection of the new CFTC Chair/Commissioners. 

As noted below, Jim Newsome has been selected as Acting Chair.  I mentioned 
this to Ken Raisler and Stacy Carey.  Everyone agrees that Newsome is a known 
quantity, though he may not be a superstar in the mold of Bill Ranier.   Ken 
said Newsome knows our issues and is favorable to a "free market" approach to 
energy and metals.  However, there is some concern about his ability to reign 
in the CFTC staff.  Newsome is the favorite currently for the position with 
boosters in Senators Lott and Cochran and his college roommate Rep. Jerry 
Moran (R-KS).  However, it is still early in the game and unknown Chair 
candidates could still be out there (including officials passed over for more 
high profile positions).

If Newsome is nominated as the Chair, an additional Commissioner (a 
Republican) position opens and will be named by Speaker Denny Hastert.  
Hastert is from the suburbs and the assumption is that he the Chicago 
exchanges may influence the appointment.  Stacy Carey is poking around to 
determine what Chicago exchanges are thinking.   One name that has been 
mentioned often is retired Congressman Tom Ewing who has expressed interest 
in a Commission seat, but not the Chair (Ewing is supportive of our issues).

David Spears is also likely to leave, but no date has been announced.  This 
is also a Republican seat.  The Democrats Barbara Holum and Tom Erickson are 
likely to stick around until their terms expire.

We can try to float names of persons we would like to see either Chair or 
join the Commission.  Also, we have learned that Wendy Gramm has list of 
names she may be shopping around for CFTC and SEC - it would be good the see 
who Gramm is proposing.

Please advise how you want to proceed in either reviewing or suggesting the 
appointees.

Thanks - Chris


	
No. 05 
Monday January 8, 2001	Page A-4 
	ISSN 1523-567X
	Regulation, Law & Economics
	
	Futures Trading
Newsome Elected Acting Chair;
Favors 'Free-Market' Philosophy

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has elected Jim Newsome as its 
acting chairman, the agency announced Jan. 5. 
Newsome, a Republican, will assume the role played by outgoing Chairman 
William Rainer, who announced last month that he would resign his position 
effective Jan. 19. 
Newsome, a native of Plant City, Fla., was nominated to the CFTC in July 1998 
and sworn in Aug. 10 that same year. Immediately before joining the 
commission, Newsome was chairman of the Mississippi Agribusiness Council and 
served as executive vice president of the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association 
and Mississippi Beef Council. 

Levels of Oversight

Newsome, who could not be reached for comment Jan. 5, told BNA last month 
that he favors a "free-market philosophy," something he said helped him work 
productively with the like-minded Rainer, who was a Democrat. He praised in 
particular the CFTC's new regulatory framework that was approved by the 
commission last fall. The rulemaking largely was withdrawn after Congress 
essentially codified the initiative in the Commodity Futures Modernization 
Act passed in December. 
The new tiered-system creates different levels of oversight meant to 
differentiate between different levels of investor sophistication. "We've 
tried to develop a much more flexible regulatory scheme that allows for more 
competition for futures markets participants," Newsome said. 


Copyright , 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.