COMPETITIVENESS STUDY.

SEC. 219. COMPETITIVENESS STUDY. (a) In General.— No later than eighteen months following the enactment of this Act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission shall study the competitiveness of boards of trade over which it has jurisdiction compared with the boards of trade (or their foreign equivalent) over which foreign futures authorities, as defined in section 2(a)(1)(A) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 2(a)(l)(A)), have jurisdiction, and submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report of its findings with respect to— (1) the overall competitive status of United States boards of trade in the world market; (2) a comparison of applicable statutes, rules, or regulations as they relate to futures and options administered and enforced by the Commission and those administered and enforced by foreign futures authorities; (3) any trends in, or movements of, volume of futures and options trading to or from United States boards of trade during the period of the study, and whether such trends or movements, if any, were the result of the adoption of statutes, regulations, or other enforcement mechanisms in foreign countries or the United States, as opposed to other competitive, economic, regional, or commercial factors; (4) any significant harms or risks to the public interest, market users, traders, and commerce in relation to futures or options traded on such foreign boards of trade which may result from the absence of statutes, regulations, or other enforcement mechanisms in foreign countries or the United 106 STAT. 3614 States or disparities in regulatory protections offered by United States and foreign authorities; and (5) any recommendations the Commission may have as a result of the study to enhance the competitive status of United States boards of trade in the world market, or to enhance the regulations of markets in the global environment, that will not impair customer confidence in United States boards of trade. (b) Cooperation.—To promote the efficient use of resources, the Commission shall endeavor, as it determines appropriate, to obtain the assistance of the General Accounting Office, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, or other appropriate offices of the Federal Government in order to obtain information with regard to trading at foreign boards of trade and the regulation of such boards of trade by foreign futures authorities.