About the CFTC

An Important Mission in the Ever-Changing World of Finance

Congress created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 1974 as an independent agency with the mandate to regulate commodity futures and option markets in the United States. The agency's mandate has been renewed and expanded several times since then, most recently by the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.

In 1974 the majority of futures trading took place in the agricultural sector. The CFTC's history demonstrates, among other things, how the futures industry has become increasingly varied over time and today encompasses a vast array of highly complex financial futures contracts.

Today, the CFTC assures the economic utility of the futures markets by encouraging their competitiveness and efficiency, protecting market participants against fraud, manipulation, and abusive trading practices, and by ensuring the financial integrity of the clearing process. Through effective oversight, the CFTC enables the futures markets to serve the important function of providing a means for price discovery and offsetting price risk.

The CFTC's mission is to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices related to the sale of commodity and financial futures and options, and to foster open, competitive, and financially sound futures and option markets.

CFTC Organization

The CFTC organization consists of the Commissioners, the offices of the Chairman, and the agency's operating units.

The Commission consists of five Commissioners appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to serve staggered five-year terms. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairman. No more than three Commissioners at any one time may be from the same political party.

The Offices of the Chairman include the Office of External Affairs which acts as the CFTC's liaison with news media, producer and market user groups, educational and academic groups, and the general public, provides information about the CFTC, and spearheads customer protection initiatives; the Office of International Affairs which coordinates the CFTC's global regulatory efforts and assists the Commission in the formulation of international policy; the Office of the Inspector General which performs audits of CFTC programs and operations and reviews legislation and regulations; the Office of the Secretariat which coordinates preparation and dissemination of policy documents and responds to requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act; and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity.

The CFTC monitors markets and market participants closely and, in addition to its headquarters office in Washington, DC, maintains offices in Chicago, Kansas City, and New York, cities where futures exchanges are located.

The Office of the General Counsel is the Commission's legal advisor, represents the Commission in appellate litigation and certain trial-level cases, including bankruptcy proceedings involving futures industry professionals, and advises the Commission on the application and interpretation of the Commodity Exchange Act and other administrative statutes.

The Office of the Executive Director formulates and implements the management and administrative functions of the CFTC and the agency's budget.

The Division of Clearing and Intermediary Oversight oversees market intermediaries, including derivatives clearing organizations, financial integrity of registrants, customer fund protection, stock index margin, sales practice reviews, foreign market access by intermediaries, and National Futures Association activities related to intermediaries.

The Division of Market Oversight is responsible for fostering markets that accurately reflect the forces of supply and demand for the underlying commodity and are free of abusive trading activity, oversees trade execution facilities, and performs market surveillance, market compliance, and market and product review functions.

The Division of Enforcement investigates and prosecutes alleged violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission regulations. Violations may involve commodity futures or option trading on U.S. futures exchanges or the improper marketing and sales of commodity futures products to the general public.

The Office of the Chief Economist provides economic support and advice to the Commission, conducts resesarch on policy issues facing the agency, and provides education and training for Commission staff.

CFTC Advisory Committees

The CFTC's Advisory Committees were created to provide input and make recommendations to the Commission on a variety of regulatory and market issues that affect the integrity and competitiveness of U.S. markets. The committees facilitate communication between the Commission and U.S. futures markets, trading firms, market participants, and end users. The committees, governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, currently include the Agricultural Advisory Committee, the Global Markets Advisory Committee, Energy Markets Advisory Committee, and the Technology Advisory Committee (inactive).

CFTC Video

• CFTC Video (WMV 6.67MB with open captioning)
• CFTC Video (WMV 6.67MB with no captioning)

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