On the recordMarch 26, 2012
I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 2779. The interaffiliate swaps, those swaps occurring between entities within a single corporate structure, are an important tool for companies and to manage their risk. As a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the chair of the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee, I want to commend Mr. Stivers and Ms. Fudge for putting together a commonsense bill that will offer our businesses and agriculture firms certainty about a small but important aspect of the overall Dodd-Frank rulemaking. Centralizing a large organization's risk mitigation efforts can yield substantial economic benefits and reduce a firm's overall credit risk. In addition to creating operating savings through economies of scale, these companies can also reduce the number of external-facing transactions altogether. By looking at a firm's entire risk portfolio, it's possible to find places where risks overlap and offset one another, reducing the need for entering the market. Fewer swaps mean less money tied up in margin, clearing, and execution and more money being spent on hiring Americans, buying supplies, and funding innovation. Unfortunately, ambiguity in the Dodd-Frank law could undo this innovative risk management strategy.…
