Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - Today, the House Agriculture Committee held a hearing to review the 2016 agenda for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Members raised many concerns with CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad, including the importance of strong futures and derivatives markets for end-users, reforms to Dodd-Frank, the Reg AT rule and its potential impact on smaller market participants, and the continued need to reauthorize the commission. Last year the House passed H.R. 2289, the Commodity-End User Relief Act, to reauthorize the CFTC, with no corresponding action in the Senate. The CFTC has been unauthorized since September 2013.

“With America’s farmers and ranchers experiencing a collapse in commodity prices, it is imperative that our derivatives markets are working effectively so end-users are able to have certainty in the marketplace during these challenging economic times. Currently, hedgers have to contend with burdensome regulations and increased costs to access clearing services. I am pushing hard to reauthorize the CFTC so that we can enact important reforms that will bring more order to the markets and more certainty for the end-users who rely on them. I want to thank Chairman Massad for sharing with us his plans for 2016, as well as his hard work negotiating a deal on clearing house equivalence with the European Union. I look forward to working with him in the coming year,” said Chairman K. Michael Conaway.