Terms Used In U.S. Code > Title 29 > Chapter 18 > Subchapter I > Subtitle B - Regulatory Provisions

• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Alternate valuation date: The earlier of the date six months after the decedent
• alternative trading system: means an organization, association, or group of persons that&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Amortization: Paying off a loan by regular installments.
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• article of wearing apparel: means any costume or article of clothing worn or intended to be worn by individuals. See 15 USC 1191
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• association: when used in reference to a corporation, shall be deemed to embrace the words "successors and assigns of such company or association" in like manner as if these last-named words, or words of similar import, were expressed. See 1 USC 5
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• automobile dealer: shall mean any person, partnership, corporation, association, or other form of business enterprise resident in the United States or in any Territory thereof or in the District of Columbia operating under the terms of a franchise and engaged in the sale or distribution of passenger cars, trucks, or station wagons. See 15 USC 1221
• automobile manufacturer: shall mean any person, partnership, corporation, association, or other form of business enterprise engaged in the manufacturing or assembling of passenger cars, trucks, or station wagons, including any person, partnership, or corporation which acts for and is under the control of such manufacturer or assembler in connection with the distribution of said automotive vehicles. See 15 USC 1221
• Balanced budget: A budget in which receipts equal outlays.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. ^{Source: OCC}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Board: means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See 7 USC 1a
• board of trade: means any organized exchange or other trading facility. See 7 USC 1a
• Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
• cleared swap: means any swap that is, directly or indirectly, submitted to and cleared by a derivatives clearing organization registered with the Commission. See 7 USC 1a
• commerce: means commerce among the several States or with foreign nations or in any territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia or between any such territory and another, or between any such territory and any State or foreign nation, or between the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and any State or territory or foreign nation, or between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and any State or territory or foreign nation or the District of Columbia. See 15 USC 1191
• commerce: shall mean commerce among the several States of the United States or with foreign nations, or in any Territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia, or among the Territories or between any Territory and any State or foreign nation, or between the District of Columbia and any State or Territory or foreign nation. See 15 USC 1221
• Commission: means the Consumer Product Safety Commission. See 15 USC 1191
• Commission: means the Commodity Futures Trading Commission established under section 2(a)(2) of this title. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity: means wheat, cotton, rice, corn, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed, grain sorghums, mill feeds, butter, eggs, Solanum tuberosum (Irish potatoes), wool, wool tops, fats and oils (including lard, tallow, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, and all other fats and oils), cottonseed meal, cottonseed, peanuts, soybeans, soybean meal, livestock, livestock products, and frozen concentrated orange juice, and all other goods and articles, except onions (as provided by section 13-1 of this title) and motion picture box office receipts (or any index, measure, value, or data related to such receipts), and all services, rights, and interests (except motion picture box office receipts, or any index, measure, value or data related to such receipts) in which contracts for future delivery are presently or in the future dealt in. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity pool: means any investment trust, syndicate, or similar form of enterprise operated for the purpose of trading in commodity interests, including any&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity pool operator: means any person&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• commodity trading advisor: means any person who&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Concurrent resolution: A legislative measure, designated "S. Con. Res." and numbered consecutively upon introduction, generally employed to address the sentiments of both chambers, to deal with issues or matters affecting both houses, such as a concurrent budget resolution, or to create a temporary joint committee. Concurrent resolutions are not submitted to the President/Governor and thus do not have the force of law.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• contract of sale: includes sales, agreements of sale, and agreements to sell. See 7 USC 1a
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• county: includes a parish, or any other equivalent subdivision of a State or Territory of the United States. See 1 USC 2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• derivatives clearing organization: means a clearinghouse, clearing association, clearing corporation, or similar entity, facility, system, or organization that, with respect to an agreement, contract, or transaction&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• electronic trading facility: means a trading facility that&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• eligible commercial entity: means , with respect to an agreement, contract or transaction in a commodity&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• eligible contract participant: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. ^{Source: OCC}
• Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act: Prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or because an applicant receives income from a public assistance program. ^{Source: OCC}
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• excluded commodity: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• fabric: means any material (except fiber, filament, or yarn for other than retail sale) woven, knitted, felted, or otherwise produced from or in combination with any natural or synthetic fiber, film, or substitute therefor which is intended for use or which may reasonably be expected to be used, in any product as defined in subsection (h). See 15 USC 1191
• Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: A government corporation that insures the deposits of all national and state banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal Reserve System: The central bank of the United States. The Fed, as it is commonly called, regulates the U.S. monetary and financial system. The Federal Reserve System is composed of a central governmental agency in Washington, D.C. (the Board of Governors) and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks in major cities throughout the United States. ^{Source: OCC}
• Federal Trade Commission Act: means the Act of Congress entitled "An Act to create a Federal Trade Commission, to define its powers and duties, and for other purposes" approved September 26, 1914, as amended [15 U. See 15 USC 1191
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• financial institution: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• floor broker: means any person&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• floor trader: means any person&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Forbearance: A means of handling a delinquent loan. A
• Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. ^{Source: OCC}
• foreign futures authority: means any foreign government, or any department, agency, governmental body, or regulatory organization empowered by a foreign government to administer or enforce a law, rule, or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter, or any department or agency of a political subdivision of a foreign government empowered to administer or enforce a law, rule, or regulation as it relates to a futures or options matter. See 7 USC 1a
• franchise: shall mean the written agreement or contract between any automobile manufacturer engaged in commerce and any automobile dealer which purports to fix the legal rights and liabilities of the parties to such agreement or contract. See 15 USC 1221
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• futures commission merchant: means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or trust&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• gambling device: means &mdash. See 15 USC 1171
• Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• good faith: shall mean the duty of each party to any franchise, and all officers, employees, or agents thereof to act in a fair and equitable manner toward each other so as to guarantee the one party freedom from coercion, intimidation, or threats of coercion or intimidation from the other party: Provided, That recommendation, endorsement, exposition, persuasion, urging or argument shall not be deemed to constitute a lack of good faith. See 15 USC 1221
• Grantor: The person who establishes a trust and places property into it.
• Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. ^{Source: OCC}
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
• hybrid instrument: means a security having one or more payments indexed to the value, level, or rate of, or providing for the delivery of, one or more commodities. See 7 USC 1a
• Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. ^{Source: OCC}
• interior furnishing: means any type of furnishing made in whole or in part of fabric or related material and intended for use or which may reasonably be expected to be used, in homes, offices, or other places of assembly or accommodation. See 15 USC 1191
• Interrogatories: Written questions asked by one party of an opposing party, who must answer them in writing under oath; a discovery device in a lawsuit.
• interstate commerce: includes commerce between one State, Territory, possession, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and another State, Territory, possession, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See 15 USC 1214
• interstate commerce: means commerce between any State, Territory, possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and any place outside thereof. See 15 USC 1241
• interstate commerce: means commerce&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• interstate or foreign commerce: means commerce (1) between any State or possession of the United States and any place outside of such State or possession, or (2) between points in the same State or possession of the United States but through any place outside thereof. See 15 USC 1171
• introducing broker: means any person (except an individual who elects to be and is registered as an associated person of a futures commission merchant)&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Joint resolution: A legislative measure which requires the approval of both chambers.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Law clerk: Assist judges with research and drafting of opinions.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• major security-based swap participant: has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• major swap participant: means any person who is not a swap dealer, and&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Majority leader: see Floor Leaders
• master: includes the pilot or other person in command of an aircraft. See 10 USC 8851
• member: means , with respect to a registered entity or derivatives transaction execution facility, an individual, association, partnership, corporation, or trust&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Minority leader: See Floor Leaders
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Mortgage loan: A loan made by a lender to a borrower for the financing of real property. ^{Source: OCC}
• Mortgagee: The person to whom property is mortgaged and who has loaned the money.
• Mortgagor: The person who pledges property to a creditor as collateral for a loan and who receives the money.
• narrow-based security index: means an index&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• officer: includes any person authorized by law to perform the duties of the office. See 1 USC 1
• option: means an agreement, contract, or transaction that is of the character of, or is commonly known to the trade as, an "option" "privilege" "indemnity" "bid" "offer" "put" "call" "advance guaranty" or "decline guaranty". See 7 USC 1a
• organized exchange: means a trading facility that&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Outlays: Outlays are payments made (generally through the issuance of checks or disbursement of cash) to liquidate obligations. Outlays during a fiscal year may be for payment of obligations incurred in prior years or in the same year.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, or any other form of business enterprise. See 15 USC 1191
• person: import s the plural or singular, and includes individuals, associations, partnerships, corporations, and trusts. See 7 USC 1a
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• possession of the United States: means any possession of the United States which is not named in paragraph ¹ (b) of this section. See 15 USC 1171
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• product: means any article of wearing apparel or interior furnishing. See 15 USC 1191
• prudential regulator: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Public debt: Cumulative amounts borrowed by the Treasury Department or the Federal Financing Bank from the public or from another fund or account. The public debt does not include agency debt (amounts borrowed by other agencies of the Federal Government). The total public debt is subject to a statutory limit.
• Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Ranking minority member: The highest ranking (and usually longest serving) minority member of a committee or subcommittee.
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• registered entity: means &mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• related material: means paper, plastic, rubber, synthetic film, or synthetic foam which is intended for use or which may reasonably be expected to be used in any product as defined in subsection (h). See 15 USC 1191
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Treasury. See 7 USC 1a
• security: means a security as defined in section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• security future: means a contract of sale for future delivery of a single security or of a narrow-based security index, including any interest therein or based on the value thereof, except an exempted security under section 3(a)(12) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• security futures product: means a security future or any put, call, straddle, option, or privilege on any security future. See 7 USC 1a
• security-based swap: has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• security-based swap dealer: has the meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U. See 7 USC 1a
• Sentencing guidelines: A set of rules and principles established by the United States Sentencing Commission that trial judges use to determine the sentence for a convicted defendant. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• significant price discovery contract: means an agreement, contract, or transaction subject to section 2(h)(5) of this title. See 7 USC 1a
• State: includes the several States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the District of Columbia. See 15 USC 1015
• State: includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. See 15 USC 1171
• State: means a State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of the United States. See 1 USC 7
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• subscription: includes a mark when the person making the same intended it as such. See 1 USC 1
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• swap: includes a master agreement that provides for an agreement, contract, or transaction that is a swap under subparagraph (A), together with each supplement to any master agreement, without regard to whether the master agreement contains an agreement, contract, or transaction that is not a swap pursuant to subparagraph (A). See 7 USC 1a
• swap data repository: means any person that collects and maintains information or records with respect to transactions or positions in, or the terms and conditions of, swaps entered into by third parties for the purpose of providing a centralized recordkeeping facility for swaps. See 7 USC 1a
• swap dealer: means any person who&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• swap execution facility: means a trading system or platform in which multiple participants have the ability to execute or trade swaps by accepting bids and offers made by multiple participants in the facility or system, through any means of interstate commerce, including any trading facility, that&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• switchblade knife: means any knife having a blade which opens automatically&mdash. See 15 USC 1241
• territory: includes the insular possessions of the United States and also any territory of the United States. See 15 USC 1191
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• trading facility: means a person or group of persons that constitutes, maintains, or provides a physical or electronic facility or system in which multiple participants have the ability to execute or trade agreements, contracts, or transactions&mdash. See 7 USC 1a
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Variable Rate: Having a "variable" rate means that the APR changes from time to time based on fluctuations in an external rate, normally the Prime Rate. This external rate is known as the "index." If the index changes, the variable rate normally changes. Also see Fixed Rate.
• vehicle: includes every description of carriage or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on land. See 1 USC 4
• Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
• vessel: includes aircraft. See 10 USC 8851
• vessel: includes every description of watercraft or other artificial contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water. See 1 USC 3
• Veto: The procedure established under the Constitution by which the President/Governor refuses to approve a bill or joint resolution and thus prevents its enactment into law. A regular veto occurs when the President/Governor returns the legislation to the house in which it originated. The President/Governor usually returns a vetoed bill with a message indicating his reasons for rejecting the measure. In Congress, the veto can be overridden only by a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
• whoever: include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals. See 1 USC 1
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
• writing: includes printing and typewriting and reproductions of visual symbols by photographing, multigraphing, mimeographing, manifolding, or otherwise. See 1 USC 1