A CFTC Commissioner in the Financial Times:

So what effects do the Durbin legislation and the CFTC regulatory action have? Are they the kind of &#8220-excessive&#8221- regulation contemplated by the Balls Clause? Given the circumstances of the trading activity and entities involved, and the tailored approach to a work-able regulatory solution, the answer would appear to be No. The proposals are intended to provide authority to the US commodities regulator over US individuals trading certain products on a foreign board of trade. The idea is to ensure that foreign markets offering contracts that mirror energy products traded on US exchanges should have the same transparency requirements as the US market. The Durbin legislation would give the CFTC the ability to exercise power over manipulation, speculation and record-keeping by US citizens and instructs the US regulator to assess the foreign regulator&#8217-s ability to apply comparable regulatory principles prior to granting relief from US regulatory requirements. Similarly, the CFTC&#8217-s action would condition access to US customers on the ICE&#8217-s adoption of position limits and accountability levels on the WTI contract.