Congress took away financial tools that energy producers and consumers use to circumvent energy price volatility when it passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and it needs to make changes and clarifications to the law to avoid hurting energy markets, according to a report by the Abraham Group.
Cftc
Articles from Cftc
Obama to Nominate Treasury Official to Lead CFTC
President Obama Tuesday announced his decision to nominate Timothy Massad, a Treasury Department official heavily involved in the federal bank bailout program, as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an agency that has gained prominence as it has reined in excessive or illegal speculation in the commodity derivatives and futures markets.
CFTC Adds More Rules to Restructuring Effort
A series of new regulations issued recently by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are aimed at increasing the protections of customers and customer funds held by companies designated by the CFTC as futures commission merchants (FCM) and derivative clearing organizations. They bring to 65 the number of rules, orders and guidances issued by the agency in carrying out the financial reform mandated by the Congress following the financial market’s 2008 collapse and passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Wyden Accuses CFTC of Trying to Undermine Enforcement Efforts
Top Senate lawmakers called on FERC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission four months ago to execute a memorandums of understanding (MOU) to coordinate their actions in monitoring natural gas and electricity market trading. But the agencies failed to iron out their disagreements, mostly over jurisdiction.
Cross-Market Manipulation Gets Capitol Hill Attention
A number of Congressional lawmakers have expressed concern about the extent of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s jurisdiction in cases involving the manipulation of the futures and physical gas markets, said Commission spokeswoman Mary O’Driscoll.
Obama Nominates Giancarlo to CFTC
J. Christopher Giancarlo, executive vice president of the brokerage firm GFI Group Inc., has been nominated by President Obama to fill an opening on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the White House said.
O’Malia Calls on CFTC to Avert Dodd-Frank Regulatory Cliff
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) needs to take action by mid-December to avoid a repeat of Oct.12, when the agency issued an 11th-hour flurry of no-action letters deferring the compliance deadline for a number of Dodd-Frank Wall Street rules, said Commissioner Scott O’Malia. Just as the nation faces a fiscal cliff, the agency faces the Dodd-Frank Regulatory Cliff.
CFTC Votes Out Final Rule on Clearing of Swaps
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Tuesday voted out a final rule that will “democratize the markets” by broadening access to real-time central clearing, according to Chairman Gary Gensler. The rule is designed to bolster competition in the multi-trillion-dollar swaps market and help commercial customers by providing hedging opportunities with lower risk and volatility.
CFTC, SEC Submit Report on International Swap Regulations
In a report forwarded to Congress Thursday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it was far too soon to determine whether there were no “gaps or inconsistencies” between the U.S. and international regulation of the multi-trillion dollar derivatives market.
GAO Report Finds Increased Confidence in Price Indices
The General Accountability Office (GAO), the research and investigative arm of the Congress, has issued a report finding that actions by the FERC, CFTC and the Congress have resulted in reforms to privately published natural gas price indices to the point that industry stakeholders “in general, are reasonably confident in the short-term prices now reported by trade publications and the improved quality of overall information.”