Three important points of the futures law draft are worthy of attention

The 28th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress recently reviewed the draft of the Futures Law in groups. The draft has 14 chapters and 173 articles. Judging from the content of the draft, the futures law draft adheres to the concepts of marketization, rule of law, and internationalization.

——Marketization: Proposing a system for registration of varieties on the market

The legal nature and basic positioning of the futures market and other derivatives markets are generally the same. The two are deeply integrated, complementary in function, and closely connected, and they jointly serve the national economy.

The draft provides unified regulations on futures and other derivatives, futures companies and other financial institutions engaged in futures business, venues for organizing futures trading and settlement, and other venues for organizing derivatives trading and settlement. The draft establishes a special chapter to provide principled provisions for other derivatives markets, and authorizes the State Council to formulate regulations on other derivatives markets to provide legal protection for the standardized development of other derivatives markets.

Member Yang Zhijin said that the formulation of the futures law conforms to the new requirements under the new situation and helps to consolidate the legal basis for the stable operation of the financial system. It is an extremely necessary legislative measure. In particular, the scope of legislative adjustments, including standardized futures transactions and non-standardized other derivative transactions, is very much in line with the actual needs of the market and regulatory requirements.

The draft draws on the experience of the Securities Law on the reform of the registration system for securities issuance. Variety listing is changed from a parallel approval model to a variety listing mechanism that implements application for trading venues and registration by the Securities Regulatory Commission. It stipulates in principle the basic conditions for variety listing and optimizes the variety listing procedure.

The draft clarifies that the state supports the development of the futures market and establishes accounting, auditing, taxation, state-owned asset management, foreign exchange management and other systems that adapt to the characteristics of futures trading, facilitate the participation of natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations, and promote the development of the futures market. The state encourages the use of futures markets and other derivatives markets to engage in risk management activities such as hedging.

——The rule of law: both promoting development and preventing risks

The futures market is a risk-management market, and we must prevent and control our own risks, and firmly hold the bottom line of preventing systemic risks.

The draft will pay equal attention to development and risk prevention, and make arrangements for the entire chain of risk prevention and control in terms of trading mechanism, monitoring and control, and supervision and management; it is clear that futures trading shall implement centralized trading, margin trading, position limits, no-liability settlement on the day, and forced liquidation by insufficient margin. Warehouse and other systems, standardize procedural transactions, strengthen account management, clarify the procedures for the settlement of defaults, and establish the principles of bankruptcy protection for margin and related properties.

Member Luo Baoming said that in order to ensure the effectiveness and safety of futures trading, a unique risk control system has been created in the futures field. The formulation of the futures law can fix the effective risk control system in the futures market in the form of law and improve its legal effect. The purpose is to better protect the security of the futures market and realize the long-term and healthy development of the futures market.

In terms of cracking down on illegal activities, the draft enriches the types of manipulation in the futures market, clarifies the constituent elements of insider trading in the futures market, severely cracks down on fabricating and disseminating false information, greatly increasing the amount of administrative fines and confiscated funds, and increasing the cost of number of illegal activities in the futures market. The draft comprehensively uses a variety of liability forms to improve the civil liability system in the futures market, and clarifies that if the perpetrator implements illegal acts that cause losses to traders, he shall bear civil liability, and adopt the principle of inverting the burden of proof under certain circumstances.

In addition, the draft futures law divides traders into professional traders and ordinary traders, and implements a trader suitability system for ordinary traders to participate in futures trading. Member Luo Baoming said that enacting a futures law is necessary to protect the legitimate rights and interests of futures traders. The formulation of the futures law can balance the rights and obligations of different entities, reasonably set the legal responsibilities of related entities, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of futures traders.

——Internationalization: Provide legal protection for the futures market to expand and open to the outside world

Taking the prices of major futures markets as the trading benchmark is an important feature of international bulk commodity trade. The "law of one price" in the futures market determines that the international nature of the futures law is stronger. It is necessary to legally open the futures market to the outside world and cross-border supervision. Wait to make arrangements.

The draft futures law stipulates that overseas futures trading venues, futures operating institutions, etc. provide services to the country, as well as the code of conduct that domestic and foreign traders should comply with in cross-border transactions, and strive to build a market interconnection system; stipulates that the futures regulatory agency of the State Council can establish a cross-border supervision cooperation mechanism with overseas regulatory agencies to conduct cross-border supervision and management. The draft also establishes the validity of the application outside the law of futures, and stipulates that this law shall be applied to those who engage in futures transactions or other derivative transactions and related activities overseas, disrupt the order of the domestic market, or damage the legitimate rights and interests of domestic traders.

Liu Xinhua, vice chairman of the Committee of Finance and Economics of the National People’s Congress, believes that the draft futures law not only maintains fair and market interconnection arrangements in terms of “bringing in” and “going out,” it also eliminates long-term and difficult-to-resolve institutional obstacles，builds futures market operation system that in line with the internationally customary.

期货法草案三大看点值得关注

新华社北京4月29日电

十三届全国人大常委会第二十八次会议日前分组审议期货法草案，草案共14章173条。从草案内容看，期货法草案秉持了市场化、法治化、国际化的理念。

——市场化：提出品种上市注册制

期货市场和其他衍生品市场法律性质、基本定位总体相同，二者深度融合、功能互补、紧密相连，共同服务于国民经济。

草案对期货和其他衍生品，期货公司和从事期货业务的其他金融机构，组织期货交易、结算的场所和组织衍生品交易、结算的其他场所等方面做了统一规定。草案设立专章对其他衍生品市场做了原则性规定，并授权国务院制定其他衍生品市场的监管办法，为规范发展其他衍生品市场提供法律保障。

杨志今委员说, 制定期货法顺应了新形势下的新要求，有助于夯实金融体系稳健运行的法治基础，是一项极为必要的立法举措。特别是立法调整范围，包括标准化的期货交易和非标准化的其他衍生品交易，非常符合市场的实际需求和监管要求。

草案借鉴证券法关于证券发行注册制改革的经验，品种上市由并联审批模式改为实行交易场所申请、证监会注册的品种上市机制，原则规定品种上市的基本条件，优化品种上市程序。

草案明确国家支持期货市场发展，建立适应期货交易特征，便利自然人、法人和非法人组织参与，促进期货市场发展的会计、审计、税收、国有资产管理、外汇管理等制度。国家鼓励利用期货市场和其他衍生品市场从事套期保值等风险管理活动。

——法治化：促发展与防风险并重

期货市场是管理风险的市场，必须做好自身风险防控，坚决守住不发生系统性风险的底线。

草案将促发展与防风险并重，从交易机制、监测监控、监督管理等方面进行全链条风险防控安排；明确期货交易实行集中交易、保证金交易、持仓限额、当日无负债结算、保证金不足强行平仓等制度，规范程序化交易，强化账户管理，明确违约处置程序，确立保证金及相关财产破产保护的原则。

罗保铭委员说,为了确保期货交易的效力和安全，期货领域创设了特有的风险控制制度，制定期货法可以将期货市场实践证明有效的风险控制制度，以法律的形式固定下来，提高其法律效力，目的就是更好地保障期货市场的安全，实现期货市场的长远健康发展。

在打击违法行为方面，草案丰富了期货市场操纵行为的类型，明确了期货市场内幕交易的构成要件，严厉打击编造传播虚假信息的行为，大幅度提高行政罚没款金额，增加期货市场违法违规行为的成本。草案综合运用多种责任形式，完善期货市场民事责任体系，明确行为人实施违法违规行为造成交易者损失的，应当承担民事责任，并在特定情况下采取举证责任倒置的原则。

此外，期货法草案将交易者分为专业交易者与普通交易者，对普通交易者参与期货交易实行交易者适当性制度。罗保铭委员说，制定期货法是保障期货交易者合法权益的需要。制定期货法可以均衡地配置不同主体之间的权利义务，合理设定相关主体的法律责任，切实保障期货交易者的合法权益。

——国际化：为期货市场扩大对外开放提供法治保障

以主要期货市场价格作为交易基准是国际大宗商品贸易的重要特征，期货市场的“一价定律”决定了期货法的国际属性更强，需要从法律层面对期货市场对外开放的路径、跨境监管等作出安排。

此次期货法草案规定境外期货交易场所、期货经营机构等向境内提供服务，以及境内外交易者跨境交易应当遵守的行为规范，着力构建市场互联互通的制度体系；规定国务院期货监督管理机构可以和境外监管机构建立跨境监管合作机制，进行跨境监督管理。草案还确立了期货法域外适用的效力，规定在境外从事期货交易或者其他衍生品交易及相关活动，扰乱境内市场秩序，损害境内交易者合法权益的，适用本法。

全国人大财政经济委员会副主任委员刘新华认为，期货法草案在“引进来”、“走出去”方面，既保持了公平、市场互联互通的安排，又消除了长期难以解决的制度障碍，构建了符合国际惯例的期货市场运行制度。