[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4696 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4696

   To provide for cooperation between the Commodity Futures Trading 
                   Commission and foreign regulators.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 16, 2019

 Mr. Bost (for himself, Mr. Van Drew, and Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for cooperation between the Commodity Futures Trading 
                   Commission and foreign regulators.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``International Regulatory Cooperation 
Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY COOPERATION.

    (a) Section 1a(26) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a(26)) 
is amended by striking ``futures or options'' each place it appears and 
inserting ``futures, swaps, or options.''.
    (b) Clarification of Meaning of Foreign Futures Authority.--Section 
8 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 12) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(j) For purposes of this section, the term `foreign futures 
authority' includes any foreign authority that is empowered under 
foreign law to detect, investigate, or prosecute potential violations 
of law.''.
    (c) Authority To Provide Food and Incidental Assistance to Foreign 
Guests Hosted by the Commission.--Section 12(b) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
16(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) The Commission may incur expenses for consultations 
        and meetings hosted by the Commission with foreign governmental 
        and other regulatory officials, such expenses to include 
        necessary logistic and administrative expenses and the expenses 
        of Commission staff and foreign invitees in attendance 
        including:
                    ``(A) meals;
                    ``(B) local travel and transportation; and
                    ``(C) related incidental expenses.''.
    (d) Transfer and Acceptance of Personnel.--Section 2(a) of such Act 
(7 U.S.C. 2(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(16) Assistance from federal agencies.--Any department or 
        agency of the United States may cooperate with and provide to 
        the Commission, any assistance, including services, funds, 
        facilities, employees, and other support services as determined 
        by the Commission to effectuate the purposes and provisions of 
        this Act. An employee from another department or agency of the 
        United States may be detailed to the Commission on a 
        reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis, and the detail shall be 
        without interruption or loss of civil service status or 
        privilege.
            ``(17) Assistance from foreign futures authorities, foreign 
        government agencies, foreign ministries, foreign central banks, 
        or foreign persons.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Commission may--
                            ``(i) retain or employ officers or 
                        employees of a foreign futures authority, 
                        foreign government agency, foreign ministry, 
                        foreign central bank, or foreign person on a 
                        temporary basis as employees of the Commission 
                        pursuant to section 12(b) of this Act or 
                        section 3101 or section 3109 of title 5, United 
                        States Code; and
                            ``(ii) detail officers or employees of the 
                        Commission to work on a temporary basis for any 
                        such foreign entity.
                    ``(B) Reciprocity and reimbursement.--
                            ``(i) Reciprocity not required.--Assistance 
                        described in subparagraph (A) need not be 
                        provided on a reciprocal basis.
                            ``(ii) Written agreement required.--The 
                        Commission may provide and accept assistance 
                        described in subparagraph (A) on a reimbursable 
                        or non-reimbursable basis, only in accordance 
                        with a written agreement between the Commission 
                        and the foreign entity involved.
                            ``(iii) Rules applicable to 
                        reimbursements.--
                                    ``(I) Form.--A reimbursement to, or 
                                from or on behalf of, the Commission 
                                may be made in cash or in-kind.
                                    ``(II) Advance reimbursements.--The 
                                Commission may provide an advance 
                                reimbursement to such a foreign entity, 
                                and may accept an advance reimbursement 
                                from such a foreign entity. Such an 
                                advance reimbursement shall be 
                                available for the services and uses set 
                                forth in the applicable written 
                                agreement.
                                    ``(III) Use of reimbursements from 
                                foreign entities.--
                                            ``(aa) In general.--The 
                                        Commission shall credit a 
                                        reimbursement received from 
                                        such a foreign entity to the 
                                        appropriate Commission 
                                        appropriation, fund, or 
                                        account, subject to item (bb).
                                            ``(bb) Use of advance 
                                        reimbursements.--The Commission 
                                        may use such an advance 
                                        reimbursement for direct 
                                        expenditure in lieu of making 
                                        the credit required by item 
                                        (aa).
                    ``(C) Standards of conduct.--An officer or employee 
                employed under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be subject to 
                the provisions of law relating to ethics, conflicts of 
                interest, or corruption, and to any other statute 
                governing the standards of conduct for Commission 
                employees that are applicable to the type of 
                appointment for the duration of the appointment.''.
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