After years of battling to limit the overseas reach of U.S.swaps rules, Wall Street is beginning to hear a more flexibleapproach from one of its top regulators.

Timothy Massad, who took over as chairman of Commodity FuturesTrading Commission (CFTC) in June, told traders today that it'sunreasonable to expect identical derivatives regulations around theworld. While the agency is striving to ensure coordination withauthorities in Europe and Asia, “there will inevitably bedifferences,” he said.

Massad's comments reflect a change in tone from his predecessorGary Gensler, who argued that extending CFTC rules to otherjurisdictions was crucial to protecting the U.S. financial systemfrom a foreign-born crisis. The agency will also delay a provisionapplying the Dodd-Frank Act to U.S. structured trades that banksbook through overseas affiliates, Massad said.