UPDATE=US House Defeats Plan To Move Uncleared Swaps Onto Trading Venues

The U.S. House rejected a proposal backed by the chairman of the federal futures regulator to require some uncleared swaps to still be traded on regulated, transparent platforms.

Reps. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) and Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), the drafters of the proposal, sought to include it into a broader bill to overhaul the financial regulatory system. It was defeated 98-330.

The plan would have required many commercial hedgers to execute swap trades on trading venues even if those products aren't cleared by a clearinghouse. The requirement would only apply in cases where a trading facility listed the swap.

"This amendment strengthens what is already a good bill," Rep. Van Hollen said on the floor Thursday. "What it calls for is simply greater transparency in transactions."

The proposal is widely opposed by companies that use swaps to hedge risks, but was supported by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler in a letter he sent to Stupak and Van Hollen on Thursday.

House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson (D., Minn.), one of the chief drafters of the swaps section of the financial bill, said he opposed the measure because "the end-user community doesn't buy it."

Meanwhile, a separate measure proposed by Stupak, Van Hollen and several other lawmakers to allow regulators to ban abusive swaps was also defeated 150-279. That provision came about amid concern about the trading of "naked" credit-default swaps, a type of swap investors can use to bet against the creditworthiness of a company without having an underlying interest in the bonds.

A final vote on the broader House financial bill is expected Friday.

-By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; [e-mail]