News
September 11, 2008
harkin welcomes cftc report; calls for further regulation of energy futures contracts
Washington, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement in response to a new report from the Commodity Futures Commission (CFTC), “Staff Report on Commodity Swap Dealers & Index Traders with Commission Recommendations.” Harkin is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, with jurisdiction and oversight responsibilities of the CFTC.
“I welcome this new CFTC report and the recommendations for agency action within their current program authority. CFTC is rightly taking action with oversight of these markets. Yet, the CFTC can and should go further.
“This CFTC report does not quantify the amount of speculative trading occurring in the futures markets. We cannot wait for the definitive answer to this critical issue. It is time to pass legislation to require CFTC to impose appropriate position limits on exchange-traded energy futures contracts and to authorize limits on over-the-counter transactions.”
