Overview
Law360 quoted Charley Mills in a May 18 article titled “CFTC May Unleash Legal Avalanche on Power Markets.” The article discusses the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) proposal to allow private lawsuits over alleged fraud in regional electricity markets – a surprising backtrack on an earlier pledge to leave oversight of those markets to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Some say the CFTC’s change of course could paint a fresh litigation bull’s-eye on electricity companies and other power entities, almost all of which are already regulated by FERC.
Mr. Mills says: "Adoption of the CFTC's proposed amendment could significantly change the regulatory landscape for those markets, and the FERC's and the CFTC's interface with them. While FERC already has the authority to order restitution for harmed parties, new potential follow-on class action liability will affect how parties address resolution of FERC enforcement matters."
The full article can be read at Law360 (subscription required).