WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit held a hearing on the state of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). After the hearing, Subcommittee Ranking Member Austin Scott (GA-8) and committee Ranking Member K. Michael Conaway (TX-11) made the following remarks:

“I want to thank Chairman Giancarlo for his testimony today and his strong support for the CFTC Research and Development Modernization Act. His vision of the CFTC as a 21st Century regulator is the right one. This legislation will give the commission the tools it needs to meet the challenges of the future. I look forward to working with Chairman Scott on including this bill in our upcoming CFTC reauthorization,” said Ranking Member Scott.

“Today’s hearing was an opportunity to hear from the chairman of the CFTC about its recent success and some of the unmet challenges in our nation’s derivatives markets. I am particularly concerned about the potential for the proposed bank capital standards to disrupt the clearing markets we oversee. Title VII of Dodd-Frank was clear in its intention to move derivatives activity into clearing houses, but this capital rule will reduce the availability of clearing services. This simply does not make sense,” said Ranking Member Conaway.

 

-30-