466
Opinion of the Court
ing congressional regulation in this area, it is natural to read the exemption as a complete exclusion of foreign currency transactions from the regulatory scheme, except to the extent that the proviso for transactions "conducted on a board of trade" qualifies that exclusion. Contrary to the CFTC's position, there is little to suggest that elsewhere in the CEA Congress used the term transactions "involving" a particular commodity to describe options, and transactions "in" the commodity to indicate a narrower exclusion. The proviso "conducted on a board of trade" does not aid the CFTC's cause because a broad reading of the proviso to include both options and futures is faithful to the contemporary legal context in which the amendment was drafted. The arguments favoring each side in the important public policy dispute over whether off-exchange foreign currency options should be exempt from CEA regulation are best addressed to the Congress, not the courts. Pp. 468-480. 58 F. 3d 50, reversed and remanded.
Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, post, p. 480.
Gary D. Stumpp argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs was Adam M. Bond.
Jeffrey P. Minear argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief for respondent Commodity Futures Trading Commission were Acting Solicitor General Dellinger, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, Pat G. Nicolette, Jay L. Witkin, and Gracemary Rizzo.*
Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented is whether Congress has authorized the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for Crédit Lyonnais et al. by John M. Quitmeyer, Danforth Newcomb, Kent T. Stauffer, and David M. Lindley; and for the Foreign Exchange Committee et al. by Kenneth M. Raisler, Edward J. Rosen, Peter Buscemi, and Maris M. Rodgon.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago by Kenneth W. Starr, Mark D. Young, and Richard A. Cordray; and for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange by Jerrold E. Salzman and James T. Malysiak.
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