CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo highlighted the importance of ensuring that America's derivatives markets remain "open, orderly and highly liquid." He emphasized that U.S. global competitiveness requires America's derivatives markets to be regulated based on economic analysis, and not political concerns. He asserted that the superiority of the U.S. derivatives markets resulted from the fact that they are governed by an agency (the CFTC) that has created a regulatory framework that is "principles-based" with rules that are based on an "econometrically-driven analysis."
Commentary / Steven Lofchie
Since he assumed office, Chair Giancarlo has emphasized that derivatives should not be treated as a scapegoat for the 2008 market crash and that, contrary to some popular opinion, by far the largest use of derivatives is not for financial speculation but for commercial hedging. By highlighting these points, Mr. Giancarlo argues that the regulation of futures and swaps should be driven by economic considerations and not by domestic politics.
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