Agriculture committee leaders comment on Dodd-Frank anniversary
July 21, 2015 |05:08 PM
The leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees each issued statements today on the fifth anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.
Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., praised the law while Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, were critical.
“It has been about seven years since the financial crisis and five years the Agriculture Committee finished its work on Title VII of Dodd-Frank. We can look back now and see the results of that work,” said Peterson, who chaired the House Agriculture Committee when the bill was written.
“The CFTC has finished 50 of the 60 rules required by Title VII. Central clearing, margin, and price transparency are now the rule, rather than the exception, in the swaps market," Peterson added. "The derivatives markets as a whole are now much safer for end-users, consumers, market participants, and taxpayers than they were seven years ago. But that work is not done; the commission, and the markets they regulate, need our further support.”
“Five years ago, our economy was brought to the brink of collapse due to the risky financial practices of some on Wall Street,” Stabenow said. “Since that time, we have made significant strides, including bringing the over-the-counter swaps market out of the shadows.
"However, when key financial regulators, like the CFTC, continue to be seriously underfunded and the target of attacks to undermine Wall Street reform, our economy remains vulnerable," Stabenow said. "I will continue to lead efforts to give the cops on the beat the resources they need to foster open, transparent, and competitive derivatives markets. With our economy coming back, American families and businesses cannot afford another financial crisis.”
Roberts emphasized the problems that have come from the Dodd-Frank law.
“Farmers, ranchers and end-users did not cause the 2008 financial crisis, and Congress did not intend for them to be subject to Title VII of Dodd-Frank,” Roberts said. “However, five long years later, they continue to be subjected to a bounty of rules and regulations stemming from the regulatory implementation of Dodd-Frank. As chairman, I am continuing to work with members on the committee to address the regulatory overreach.”
Conaway said the bill had not lived up to its promise.
“Five years have passed since President Obama signed the massive rewrite of our nation’s financial system into law, promising the bill would promote financial stability and put an end to the causes of the 2008 financial crisis,” Conaway said. “Yet today, despite 50 rulemakings by the CFTC, the reforms of Title VII have not lived up to their promise.
“A failure to coordinate derivatives reforms – both here at home and across the globe – has fragmented the new regulatory regimes the G-20 leaders promised to enact,” Conaway added. “Rather than providing certainty, the implementation of Title VII has brought confusion to market participants and ruptured global liquidity markets. Further complicating the situation, the CFTC has gone unauthorized since October 2013, avoiding important congressional oversight and reforms that would bring more certainty to its international coordination efforts.”
Conaway said his committee will hold a hearing next week on “where we stand and what is preventing global regulators from meeting the G-20’s commitments on derivatives markets reforms,” but he did not announce the date or time.
Senate Agriculture ranking member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and House Agriculture Committee ranking member Collin Peterson, D-Minn., praised the law while Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway, R-Texas, were critical.
“It has been about seven years since the financial crisis and five years the Agriculture Committee finished its work on Title VII of Dodd-Frank. We can look back now and see the results of that work,” said Peterson, who chaired the House Agriculture Committee when the bill was written.
“The CFTC has finished 50 of the 60 rules required by Title VII. Central clearing, margin, and price transparency are now the rule, rather than the exception, in the swaps market," Peterson added. "The derivatives markets as a whole are now much safer for end-users, consumers, market participants, and taxpayers than they were seven years ago. But that work is not done; the commission, and the markets they regulate, need our further support.”
“Five years ago, our economy was brought to the brink of collapse due to the risky financial practices of some on Wall Street,” Stabenow said. “Since that time, we have made significant strides, including bringing the over-the-counter swaps market out of the shadows.
"However, when key financial regulators, like the CFTC, continue to be seriously underfunded and the target of attacks to undermine Wall Street reform, our economy remains vulnerable," Stabenow said. "I will continue to lead efforts to give the cops on the beat the resources they need to foster open, transparent, and competitive derivatives markets. With our economy coming back, American families and businesses cannot afford another financial crisis.”
Roberts emphasized the problems that have come from the Dodd-Frank law.
“Farmers, ranchers and end-users did not cause the 2008 financial crisis, and Congress did not intend for them to be subject to Title VII of Dodd-Frank,” Roberts said. “However, five long years later, they continue to be subjected to a bounty of rules and regulations stemming from the regulatory implementation of Dodd-Frank. As chairman, I am continuing to work with members on the committee to address the regulatory overreach.”
Conaway said the bill had not lived up to its promise.
“Five years have passed since President Obama signed the massive rewrite of our nation’s financial system into law, promising the bill would promote financial stability and put an end to the causes of the 2008 financial crisis,” Conaway said. “Yet today, despite 50 rulemakings by the CFTC, the reforms of Title VII have not lived up to their promise.
“A failure to coordinate derivatives reforms – both here at home and across the globe – has fragmented the new regulatory regimes the G-20 leaders promised to enact,” Conaway added. “Rather than providing certainty, the implementation of Title VII has brought confusion to market participants and ruptured global liquidity markets. Further complicating the situation, the CFTC has gone unauthorized since October 2013, avoiding important congressional oversight and reforms that would bring more certainty to its international coordination efforts.”
Conaway said his committee will hold a hearing next week on “where we stand and what is preventing global regulators from meeting the G-20’s commitments on derivatives markets reforms,” but he did not announce the date or time.
