By Greg Burns in Boca Raton, Fla. | Gary Gensler brought a tough-love message to the futures industry confab here Thursday, promising more extensive regulation of financial derivatives.

But he also tried to extend an olive branch to one part of the business that could benefit if credit-default swaps and other over-the-counter contracts get pushed onto regulated exchanges and clearinghouses, as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman wants.

Directing a question from his seat in the audience to a panel of exchange leaders at the Futures Industry Association meeting, Gensler asked CME Group Chief Executive Craig Donohue if moving OTC products onto exchanges would be “desirable.”

“On a superficial level,” Donahue replied, it would be “tempting” to agree.

“I’ve been agreed with superficially before,” Gensler said.

Donohue explained that defining standardized OTC contracts suitable for listing on exchanges would be almost impossible, and if the government proceeded with rules, “People will engineer around that in a way that makes it less than useful.”

After the panel, a smiling Gensler told Donohue he had missed a chance to tout the CME. “Craig, there’s a 3-foot putt,” Gensler said. “Just promote your exchange model.”

But Gensler also recognized that some of CME’s biggest customers might not appreciate Donohue taking Gensler’s side in the debate over new regulation. “This dealer group has a lot of economic power.”