A
Anonymous
Guest
Another attempt to put transparency and some oversight in the futures markets- and especially the oil speculation which the majority of the witness's testifying last year said caused the outlandish oil/gas costs- and profiteering by those trading in the markets but not actually taking control of the product...
This is the speculation/transparency in trading Bill Bush fought so hard.....
I see they again have Mr. Michael Greenberger, Law School Professor, University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland- and former CFTC commissioner testifying...If anyone gets the chance to listen to these hearings on C-SPAN, his explanations of how the current markets are manipulated and controlled for their benefit by the Industry Corporates and the financial investors is well worth it....
This is the speculation/transparency in trading Bill Bush fought so hard.....
I see they again have Mr. Michael Greenberger, Law School Professor, University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland- and former CFTC commissioner testifying...If anyone gets the chance to listen to these hearings on C-SPAN, his explanations of how the current markets are manipulated and controlled for their benefit by the Industry Corporates and the financial investors is well worth it....
News from the House Agriculture Committee
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 3, 2008
Media Contact: Scott Kuschmider (202) 225-1496
House Agriculture Committee Reviews Derivatives Legislation
WASHINGTON - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held the first in a series of hearings to review legislation addressing the
derivatives markets. The Committee heard today from stakeholder groups about the Derivatives Markets Transparency and
Accountability Act of 2009, draft language circulated last week by Chairman Collin C. Peterson of Minnesota. The bill is designed
to bring greater transparency to futures markets and to bring a sense of order to the over-the-counter market for swaps and other
credit derivatives.
"The effort to strengthen oversight and improve transparency in derivative markets, whether regulated or unregulated, whether they
are physically based commodities or financial commodities, has been a top priority of this Committee," said Chairman Peterson. "As
we did last year, this Committee will hear from all sides and spend a lot of time working through these issues in an open, public
manner so we can build on last year's bipartisan bill that passed the House. It is my intent to move expeditiously this month with
this series of hearings because every day we delay is another day where markets operate without the oversight and transparency they
desperately need."
"No one can argue with the concept of transparency," said Committee Ranking Republican Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, "I support greater
transparency and accountability with respect to over-the-counter transactions. However, I also believe any legislation to regulate
financial markets has to strike a balance between protecting the economic workings of the country and creating opportunities for
economic growth, business expansion, and risk management."
The Committee heard from two panels of industry stakeholders representing exchanges, farm groups, academics, energy users, and
institutional traders. The draft legislation represents a broadened version of a bipartisan bill which the House passed last
September with more than 280 votes (H.R. 6604). The Committee also held three hearings in late 2008 on the proliferation of
over-the-counter credit derivatives, including credit default swaps.
Witness testimony for this hearing as well as the draft language and outline circulated by Chairman Peterson are available on the
Committee website: http://agriculture.house.gov. A full transcript of today's hearing will be posted on the Committee website at a
later date.
Committee hearings on credit derivatives legislation will continue tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
Witness List:
Panel I
Mr. Tom Buis, President, National Farmers Union, Washington, D.C.
Mr. John Damgard, President, Futures Industry Association, Washington, D.C.
Mr. Michael Greenberger, Law School Professor, University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland
Mr. Michael A. Gooch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, GFI Group Inc., New York, New York
Mr. Sean Cota, President, Cota & Cota Inc., on behalf of Petroleum Marketers Association of America and New England Fuel Institute,
Bellow Falls, Vermont
Mr. Terrance A. Duffy, Executive Chairman, CME Group Inc., Chicago, Illinois
Panel II
Mr. Daniel J. Roth, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Futures Association, Chicago, Illinois
Mr. Tyson Slocum, Director, Public Citizen's Energy Program, Washington, D.C.
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The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture web site http://agriculture.house.gov has additional information on this and other subjects.