A Regulatory Retreat: Energy Market Exemption from Private Anti-Manipulation Actions Under the Commodity Exchange Act

In order to facilitate greater reform in energy markets, Dodd-Frank granted the CFTC wide-ranging powers as part of the greater mandate given to the CFTC in relation to OTC-swaps and the daily derivatives trading activity in commodities futures and options markets. As a result, Dodd-Frank subjected electricity market transactions—which traditionally occur under the oversight of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in markets organized around independent system operators and regional transmission organizations—to the anti-manipulation prohibitions of the Commodity Exchange Act. Thus, differently from FERC’s regime, the post-Dodd-Frank statutory framework opened the way for enforcement of market discipline in electricity markets through a private right of action under Section 22 of the CEA. This development drew strong opposition from the industry, and also caused a conflict between courts and the CFTC in the interpretation of the relevant law. In October of 2016, the CFTC stepped back by issuing a final exemptive order to the participants of seven national energy markets, which constitute almost the entire U.S. wholesale electricity market. The withdrawal of the private right of action conflicts with the position previously advocated by the CFTC itself. It also raises questions about the CFTC’s use of its exemptive powers, as the removal of a statutory right through agency rulemaking may potentially be in conflict with the text and statutory purpose of the CEA as amended by Dodd-Frank. The exemption not only removes an important tool in enforcing market discipline, but also has the potential to undermine the reform efforts in the transition of U.S. energy markets to a smart grid. This Note will provide a history of the developments that have unfolded since the enactment of Dodd-Frank in relation to the availability of a private right of action under the CEA in energy markets. The Note also analyzes commonly raised arguments against the availability of a private right of action and presents the various counter-arguments

Dodd-Frank and the Spoofing Prohibition in Commodities Markets

The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Commodity Exchange Act and adopted an explicit prohibition regarding activity commonly known as spoofing in commodities markets. This Note argues that the spoofing prohibition is a necessary step towards improved market discipline and price integrity in the relevant commodities markets. It fills an important gap in the CEA in relation to an elusive form of price manipulation activity by providing an explicit statutory authority on which regulators and market operators may rely in policing suspect trading strategies falling under the spoofing umbrella. Congress’ explicit denouncement of spoofing as an illegal act has ramifications not only for traders, but also for brokers and market makers. In the past, when courts have considered the issue of secondary liability of brokers regarding manipulative activity of their customers in the context of wash sales, they have determined the CEA’s explicit prohibition of wash sales and the relatively easier identification of wash sales activity as important factors that may potentially increase the secondary liability risk of derivatives brokers. Applying the same analogy to spoofing, greater public awareness and the increasing visibility of spoofing activity (resulting from improvements in the monitoring systems of regulators and market operators) will provide strong incentives for market participants to adapt to changing norms. However, areas of concern, such as risk of selective enforcement and inconsistencies among the applicable market rules, will pose challenges in the spoofing prohibition’s implementation. Therefore, regulators must seek cooperation with relevant market operators to encourage structural reform and self-regulatory measures, such as implementation of appropriate structural safeguards into the trading infrastructure

An Efficient Codebook Initialization Approach for LBG Algorithm

In VQ based image compression technique has three major steps namely (i) Codebook Design, (ii) VQ Encoding Process and (iii) VQ Decoding Process. The performance of VQ based image compression technique depends upon the constructed codebook. A widely used technique for VQ codebook design is the Linde-Buzo-Gray (LBG) algorithm. However the performance of the standard LBG algorithm is highly dependent on the choice of the initial codebook. In this paper, we have proposed a simple and very effective approach for codebook initialization for LBG algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme is computationally efficient and gives expected performance as compared to the standard LBG algorithm

Primer registro de Thalassiosira catharinensis (Bacillariophyta) en aguas costeras marinas argentinas

Several ultrastructural analyses of taxa belonging to the genus Thalassiosira from Argentinean coastal waters were carried out, nevertheless, the smaller fraction of the nanoplanktonic Thalassiosira was frequently overlooked. The aim of this study is to show the morphological variation of T. catharinensis, to compare material found in marine coastal waters of Anegada Bay, Province of Buenos Aires, with the material analyzed in the protologue and allied taxa, and to record the species for the first time in Argentina, extending its distribution.Several ultrastructural analyses of taxa belonging to the genus Thalassiosira from Argentinean coastal waters were carried out, nevertheless, the smaller fraction of the nanoplanktonic Thalassiosira was frequently overlooked. The aim of this study is to show the morphological variation of T. catharinensis, to compare material found in marine coastal waters of Anegada Bay, Province of Buenos Aires, with the material analyzed in the protologue and allied taxa, and to record the species for the first time in Argentina, extending its distribution.Fil: Lavigne, Andrea Susana. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Ficología; ArgentinaFil: Sunesen, Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Ficología; ArgentinaFil: Sar, Eugenia Alicia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Ficología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin

Análisis de los materiales tipo de Pleurosigma formosum y P. decorum (Pleurosigmataceae, Bacillariophyta)

Los materiales tipo de Pleurosigma formosum W. Smith y P. decorum W. Smith fueron examinados. Ambas especies fueron separadas hasta ahora por el rango de tamaño, la forma de la valva y la densidad de las estrías sobre la base de su análisis con microscopio óptico (MO). Sin embargo, los materiales tipo muestran alguna superposición en los rangos de tamaño y densidad de estrías, con sutiles diferencias en el ángulo de intersección de las estrías oblicuas, el cual es algo más pequeño en P. decorum. El análisis con microscopio electrónico de barrido (MEB) muestra que ambas especies comparten algunos caracteres ultraestructurales tales como el engrosamiento en forma de silla de montar del nódulo central del rafe, la amplia superposición de las fisuras centrales del rafe, la forma de las fisuras terminales del rafe, en gancho corto, la morfología general de los poros internos ocluidos por un himen cruzado por una barra hundida y la presencia de algunos pares esparcidos de poros más profundamente excavados, carentes de barra. Sin embargo, los especímenes tipo difieren en la morfología interna de los poros areolares ocluidos por un himen. Estos son circulares, cruzados por una barra hundida y con bordes engrosados en P. formosum y sub-circulares a elípticos, cruzados por una barra menos hundida y sin bordes engrosados en P. decorum. Los resultados del análisis con MEB apoyan el punto de vista de Hendey acerca de que P. decorum y P. formosum son especies separadas pero cercanamente relacionadas.The type materials of Pleurosigma formosum W. Smith and P. decorum W. Smith were examined. Both species were separated hitherto by size range, valve shape and stria density based on light microscopy (LM) analysis. However, the type materials show some overlap in the size and stria density ranges, with subtle differences in the oblique stria intersection angle, which is somewhat smaller for P. decorum. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that both species share several ultrastructural features such as a thick saddle-shaped central raphe nodule, very long overlapping central raphe fissures, short hook-shaped terminal raphe fissures, general morphology of the internal hymenoccluded pores crossed by a recessed bar and presence of some scattered pairs of more deeply recessed pores lacking a bar. However, the type specimens differ in the internal morphology of the hymen-occluded areolar pores, circular, crossed by a recessed bar and rimmed in P. formosum and subcircular to elliptical, crossed by a less recessed bar, not rimmed in P. decorum. The SEM findings thus support Hendey’s view that P. decorum and P. formosum are separate but closely allied species.Fil: Sterrenburg, Frithjof A. S.. No especifica;Fil: Sar, Eugenia Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Ficología; ArgentinaFil: Sunesen, Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Ficología; Argentin

Generation of Molecular Complexity from Cyclooctatetraene: Preparation of Optically Active Protected Aminocycloheptitols and Bicyclo[4.4.1]undecatriene

The racemic (6-cyclo-heptadienyl)Fe(CO)3+ cation ((±)-7), prepared from cyclooctatetraene, was treated with a variety of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles. Attack took place at the less hindered C1 dienyl carbon and decomplexation of the (cycloheptadiene)Fe(CO)3 complexes gave products rich in functionality for further synthetic manipulation. In particular, a seven-step route was developed from racemic (6-styryl-2,4-cycloheptadien-1-yl)phthalimide ((±)-9 d) to afford the optically active aminocycloheptitols (−)-20 and (+)-20

The KdV hierarchy in optics

ArticleThis is an open access article.There is a well explored relationship between quantum mechanical scattering from a potential and the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation of fluid dynamics: if the potential is ‘evolved’ according to the KdV equation then it will have the same reflectivity and transmissivity as a function of energy, for each snapshot in time. In this work we explore this connection in optics, where the permittivity plays the role of the potential. We begin by deriving the relationship between the Helmholtz equation and the KdV equation in terms of the current induced in a material when a permittivity profile is changed slightly. It is then shown that the KdV equation can be used to design a plethora of bounded complex potentials that are relfectionless from both sides for all angles of incidence, and planar periodic media that exhibit a real Bloch vector for all angles of propagation. Finally we apply the KdV equation to reduce the reflection of a wave from an interface between two media of differing refractive indicesSARH acknowledges financial support from program grant EP/I034548/1