Contact: Eben BurnhamSnyder (Markey), 2022242742

Obama nominee, other CFTC replacements must aggressively pursue Wall Street oversight, says Senator

WASHINGTON (November 12, 2013) - Senator Edward J. Markey (DMass.) today said that the Obama administration nominee to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will have many challenges to address, including following on the impressive record of outgoing chair Gary Gensler, who will be departing the agency soon. President Obama's nominee to lead the agency, Department of Treasury official Timothy Massad, was announced today.

The CFTC has been challenged over the last couple years by cuts to its budget from sequestration, legal challenges that have delayed or dismissed vital rules from the DoddFrank financial reform legislation, and new Wall Street practices like high frequency trading that need additional scrutiny.

Below is the statement of Senator Markey:

"The future leaders of the CFTC will face numerous challenges, least among them is that leaders like Gary Gensler and Bart Chilton have impressively steered the agency through stormy waters during the last few years, leaving big shoes to fill. 

"Our Wall Street cops at the CFTC have seen their budget cut, their rules fought in court, and emerging threats to consumers arise like high frequency trading. New nominees to lead the CFTC must be vigilant in their efforts to keep the markets working fairly, smoothly, and they should vigorously fight for the authority and funding to ensure that the agency is effectively achieving its mission.

"Chairman Gensler has amassed an impressive record as head of the CFTC.  Despite presiding over a small agency with immense new responsibilities, Chairman Gensler has driven the CFTC to complete a substantial majority of required rulemakings, a feat that has not been matched by either the SEC or our banking regulators. He has taken steps to provide serious regulation of derivatives, and released new rules establishing position limits on commodities, ensuring that a few large Wall Street institutions will no longer be able to dominate the oil, heating oil, or natural gas markets.  Chairman Gensler has done an outstanding job of steering a ship in stormy waters, and I wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.

"I look forward to reviewing the record of Mr. Massad and working with him to ensure that our futures and derivatives markets serve the needs of producers and consumers, and are not vulnerable to the whims of manipulators."

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