Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008

Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008 - (Sec. 3) Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to define "energy commodity" as (1) coal; (2) crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heating oil, and propane; (3) electricity; (4) natural gas; and (5) any other substance that is used as an energy source as determined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

(Sec. 4) Prohibits CFTC from permitting a foreign board of trade (FBOT) providing its U.S-located members with access to the CFTC electronic trading system and order matching system for energy or agricultural commodities, unless such board meets requirements similar to those imposed upon U.S. exchanges. Subjects to such provision 180 days after enactment of this Act FBOTs which had previously been granted direct access.

States that: (1) a person registered with CFTC or exempt from registration shall not be in violation of the exchange-trading requirement if such person had reason to believe that the futures contract in question was traded on a foreign-regulated FBOT that had not been determined by CFTC to be operating in violation of futures trading provisions; and (2) a futures contract executed through an FBOT that is not in compliance with this Act shall be enforceable.

(Sec. 5) Directs CFTC to disaggregate and publicly provide within 30 days of a final rule: (1) the number of positions and total value of index funds in the energy and agriculture markets; and (2) data on speculative positions relative to their bona fide physical hedgers.

(Sec. 6) Subjects index traders, swap dealers, transactions for agricultural and energy commodities, and large traders in over-the-counter contracts to reporting and recordkeeping requirements.

(Sec. 8) Directs CFTC to: (1) set position limits for any one person with respect to designated contract markets, derivative transaction execution facilities, and electronic trading facilities; (2) convene a Position Limit Agricultural Advisory Group and a Position Limit Energy Group.

(Sec. 9) Revises the core principles applicable to position limits for contracts in agricultural and energy commodities to require position limits for speculators.

(Sec. 10) Directs CFTC to appoint at least 100 new full-time employees to increase agriculture and energy market transparency and improve enforcement.

(Sec. 11) Directs CFTC to review: (1) prior actions to ensure compliance with this Act; and (2) over-the-counter markets.

(Sec. 12) Directs: (1) CFTC to study the efficacy, practicality, and consequences of establishing position limits, other than bona fide hedge positions, that may be held by any person with respect to certain agreements, contracts, or transactions involving an agricultural or energy commodity; (2) the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to study the international regime for regulating the trading of energy commodity futures and derivatives; and (3) CFTC to study speculators' effects on agriculture and energy futures markets and prices.

(Sec. 14) Directs CFTC to: (1) require regular reporting of fungible over-the-counter agricultural and energy transactions; and (2) determine if such transactions have the potential to disrupt market liquidity or cause market or price disturbances, and if so, to use its discretion to impose position limits.

(Sec. 15) Authorizes CFTC to use expedited procedures to carry out this Act.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov