The comment period on the SEC's new rules for single stock futures and narrow based stock indexes was extended to Dec. 5. That decision, which was made by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), means that it is unlikely that full-scale trading in those single stock futures will be able to begin before sometime in the first quarter of next year.
The request for a delay came from Rep. Michael Oxley (R-OH.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Larry Combest (R.-Texas), chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. They asked the regulators to slow the rulemaking process because of the events of Sept. 11.
The two chairmen wrote the SEC and CFTC that they would be "sympathetic if your commissions determine that more time is needed for market participants to adjust to the new regulatory framework envisioned by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act." The act became effective in December 2000.
