Washington, 25 August 2010

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it signed a Statement of Intent (SOI) Concerning Cooperation, Consultation and the Exchange of Information with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF).

The SOI establishes a framework for information sharing and facilitates cooperation in cross-border investigations of potential violations of commodity futures laws. The SOI is supported by a diplomatic Note Verbale (Note) exchanged by the governments of the United States and Japan. The Note states the views shared by the two governments concerning the cooperation that the CFTC, METI and MAFF intend to provide under the SOI with respect to the way that information obtained under the SOI can be used by each country’s criminal authorities.

There are three regulators in Japan that have jurisdiction over the derivatives markets: METI, MAFF and the Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA). METI has oversight over precious metals, base metals, rubber and energy related products, and MAFF has jurisdiction over agricultural commodity trading. The JFSA regulates and supervises the activities of Japan's securities markets and financial futures markets.

The SOI with METI and MAFF follows an earlier SOI between the CFTC, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the JFSA in 2002. This latest SOI reflects the strong and continued commitment of each authority to combat cross-border fraud by providing the fullest assistance permissible under the laws of the United States and Japan.

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