Agricultural News
Lucas Address House Passage of CFTC Reauthorization
Wed, 25 Jun 2014 16:48:35 CDT
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 4413 - the Customer Protection and End-User Relief Act of 2014 - by a vote of 265 to 144. House Ag Chair Frank Lucas says the legislation reauthorizes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission through 2018 and ensures the agency is working in the most efficient and effective way.
The CFTC is under the jurisdiction of the House Agriculture Committee and it is the organization that has regulatory responsibility for the futures market and derivatives market.
"The Ag Committee in response to some of the I think mistakes made at the commission in recent years, some of the mistakes done in the Dodd-Frank so-called financial reform act, the ag committee has responded in a bipartisan way with a bill that had overwhelming bipartisan support yesterday to try and address those," Lucas said.
"Things like making it easier for folks who use these products to electronically access the activities of the firms that are handling their money, Lucas said. "Trying to make it harder to have another MF Global."
Lucas says the bill also requires the division head and the people who work at the commission be responsible to all of the commissioners, not just the chairman of the commission. The bill also deals with end users in making it easier to folks to participate by addressing margin requirements on small entities. Lucas says puts key protections into law for futures customers and reduces the regulatory load on end-users.
"Basically its a piece of legislation to try and make CFTC more responsible for the people who utilize it, more responsible to the market changes," Lucas said. " Very controversial because a number of my liberal colleagues don't want to change anything."
With overwhelming support from the House, Lucas now waits to see if his counterpart Senate Ag Committee Chairman Debbie Stabenow will be willing to take it up the legislation.
You can find more information, including the text of the legislation by clicking here.
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