CFTC Archives - Page 5 of 12 - Americans for Financial Reform

AFR Defends CFTC, Opposes “Customer Protection and End User Relief Act”

AFR sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to oppose “The Customer Protection and End User Relief Act.” This legislation would place significant new barriers in the way of effective oversight of commodities and derivatives markets crucial to our economy, barriers not faced by any other regulatory agency. The new statutory ‘cost benefit’ restrictions it places on CFTC rulemaking would enable financial industry interests to indefinitely delay and possibly overturn regulations, even where Congress has clearly directed the regulators to act, and where regulation is sorely needed to protect the public interest.

AFR in the News: CFTC’s Dodd-Frank Power Curtailed in Bipartisan Legislation

“’There are provisions in this bill that would effectively unwind a good deal of the work the CFTC has already done and make it much harder for them to regulate the derivatives markets,’ Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition including the AFL-CIO labor federation, said in a phone interview.”

Underfunding the CFTC Endangers Financial Reform

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission is one of the critical agencies in financial regulation. The Dodd-Frank Act gave the CFTC responsibility for overseeing the vast and previously unregulated financial derivatives markets that helped crash the world economy in 2008. This increase in responsibilities led to an eight-fold growth in the size of the markets that the CFTC was responsible for, yet the CFTC’s funding is completely inadequate to fulfill its new oversight responsibilities.

AFR Urges CFTC to Maintain Oversight of Derivatives Transactions in U.S.

AFR submitted a comment letter to the CFTC, urging that they maintain oversight of derivatives transactions in the United States.

AFR in the News: CFTC Underfunding Is “a Backdoor Attack on Derivatives Regulation.”

While the Administration wants to increase the CFTC’s budget, its $280 million request for FY 2015 is $35 million less than last year’s proposal, The American Banker points out. “We have the mandate, but not the money, to do the job,” Commissioner Bart Chilton said in a press release. Americans for Financial Reform, the story adds, has described underfunding of the CFTC as “a backdoor attack on derivatives regulation.”

AFR in the News: Massad Pledges Support for CFTC Commodity Speculation Curbs

Timothy Massad, nominated to lead the CFTC, “has drawn skepticism from [public] interest groups about his views on regulation,” according to Bloomberg, which cites Marcus Stanley, policy director for Americans for Financial Reform. “He’s really something of a blank,” Stanley said. “He doesn’t have a policy or substantive record at least in the areas regulated by the CFTC.”

Fact Sheet on CFTC Funding

Increased funding of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is a crucial piece of Wall Street reform. Here’s why.

AFR Statement on CFTC Funding in the FY 2015 Budget

“Refusing to adequately fund the CFTC is a backdoor attack on derivatives regulation. The agency needs the resources to meaningfully implement and enforce the new rules that Congress directed it to write. Those rules are essential to the mission of bringing basic standards of transparency and safety to markets that, left unchecked, were at the heart of the financial crisis that did so much damage to our economy.”

AFR Statement on CFTC Treatment of European Trading Facilities

“The derivatives market is a global market, but risks incurred by U.S. firms can impact the U.S. economy regardless of where a derivatives transaction takes place. As the process of cross-border regulation moves forward we urge the CFTC to ensure that all derivatives transactions posing a risk to the U.S. economy fall either under U.S. rules or under a regime that is fully equivalent to U.S. rules and is properly enforced.”

AFR Urges Improvements in Rules to Limit Commodity Market Speculation

AFR commented on the CFTC’s proposal to establish position limits to limit speculation that increases prices and volatility in markets for agricultural and energy commodities. AFR urged the CFTC to strengthen the rules to be more effective in preventing excessive speculation.