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Supervisors from Japan, Europe and Hong Kong have previously criticised the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in written correspondence. On Wednesday, the regulators set out their concerns during a public meeting at the CFTC in Washington.
The criticism underscores the difficulty the US agency faces in its effort to oversee swaps transactions that previously had been outside US regulators’ responsibility. Empowered by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, Gary Gensler, CFTC chairman, is trying to protect US taxpayers from any hidden risks in the swaps market to prevent a recurrence of the 2008-09 financial crisis. Financial groups and foreign regulators have warned of unintended consequences and unworkable rules. Their concerns are shared by some of the five CFTC commissioners.
Fabrizio Planta, senior officer of post-trading for the European Securities and Markets Authority, complained about duplicative regulation and “substantial compliance costs” for financial groups. Mr Planta said US attempts to regulate overseas derivatives activities were making it “impossible” for some groups to enter into swaps contracts.
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