By Dwight Cass
US companies get clearing exemption but Europeans are in the dark.
Financial reform bills are flying thick and fast around Capitol Hill. Legislation to deal with too-big-to-fail institutions, rein in ratings agencies and establish a new consumer financial protection watchdog are being thrashed out in the odd moments when lawmakers aren’t obsessing over healthcare. But the one piece of legislation that could have had the biggest impact on corporate treasurers—and which has provided some of the most colorful recent political drama—is the bill to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market. After some last-minute horse trading, it appears that corporate hedgers will be exempt from the legislation’s most onerous provisions.