Gensler to testify at House Ag derivatives hearing
July 19, 2011 | 06:17 PM | Filed in: House Ag Committee Commodities Futures Trading Commission
Hours after House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., announced that he will propose legislation to make changes in the Dodd-Frank financial regulations bill, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler announced today that he will testify Thursday before Lucas’s committee and the Senate Housing, Banking and Urban Affairs.
Lucas has scheduled a hearing entitled “Derivatives Reform: the View from Main Street.”
In a speech today to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Lucas said, “In the coming weeks, you’ll see some legislation coming out of the Agriculture Committee that makes improvements to the Dodd-Frank regulations. They are designed to ensure that regulators don’t keep rushing forward without regard for America’s farmers, ranchers, and Main Street businesses. And they help ensure that these regulations don’t damage our competitiveness or limit economic growth when we can least afford it.”
The CFTC approved three new derivatives rules today, but the vote was along party lines with the three Democrats supporting the rules and the two Republican members of the commission opposing them.
Better Markets, a group that promotes transparency, accountability and oversight in financial markets, praised the rules.
“The rules the CFTC finalized this morning are essential to move derivatives out of the shadows and onto transparent markets,” said Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets. “This move is critically important if the risk of another financial collapse is to be reduced and future bailouts are to be avoided.
“They effectively promote open access to clearing, avoiding the potential domination of the process by the largest banks,” Kelleher said. “Everyone but those banks are still paying the price for the failure of that system just a few short years ago. A new derivatives structure has to be created that is open, competitive, and financially sound to prevent a repeat of the near collapse and the massive bailouts of the biggest firms. Dodd-Frank requires that and the CFTC must and should follow through.”
The Senate Agriculture Committee has also scheduled a confirmation hearing Thursday on the nomination of Mark P. Wetjen, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as a CFTC commissioner. If confirmed, Wetjen, a Nevadan, would succeed Commissioner Mike Dunn.
Lucas has scheduled a hearing entitled “Derivatives Reform: the View from Main Street.”
In a speech today to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Lucas said, “In the coming weeks, you’ll see some legislation coming out of the Agriculture Committee that makes improvements to the Dodd-Frank regulations. They are designed to ensure that regulators don’t keep rushing forward without regard for America’s farmers, ranchers, and Main Street businesses. And they help ensure that these regulations don’t damage our competitiveness or limit economic growth when we can least afford it.”
The CFTC approved three new derivatives rules today, but the vote was along party lines with the three Democrats supporting the rules and the two Republican members of the commission opposing them.
Better Markets, a group that promotes transparency, accountability and oversight in financial markets, praised the rules.
“The rules the CFTC finalized this morning are essential to move derivatives out of the shadows and onto transparent markets,” said Dennis Kelleher, president and CEO of Better Markets. “This move is critically important if the risk of another financial collapse is to be reduced and future bailouts are to be avoided.
“They effectively promote open access to clearing, avoiding the potential domination of the process by the largest banks,” Kelleher said. “Everyone but those banks are still paying the price for the failure of that system just a few short years ago. A new derivatives structure has to be created that is open, competitive, and financially sound to prevent a repeat of the near collapse and the massive bailouts of the biggest firms. Dodd-Frank requires that and the CFTC must and should follow through.”
The Senate Agriculture Committee has also scheduled a confirmation hearing Thursday on the nomination of Mark P. Wetjen, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., as a CFTC commissioner. If confirmed, Wetjen, a Nevadan, would succeed Commissioner Mike Dunn.
