Derivatives | Better Markets

Better Markets Applauds CFTC’s Proposed Ban on Election Gambling To Prevent Election Interference and Protect Democracy

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Cantrell Dumas, Director of Derivatives Policy, issued the following statement in connection with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) open meeting to consider a proposed rule regarding event contracts. “We applaud the CFTC for taking steps today to clarify and strengthen the rules governing event contracts and specifically election gambling contracts. Gambling on […]

The Ongoing Crypto Carnage and Wealth Destruction Are Red Flags for the CFTC Regarding FTX’s Application for Auto-Liquidation of Retail Customers Bitcoin Futures Margin Accounts

WASHINGTON, D.C.— Better Markets President and CEO Dennis M. Kelleher issued the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ Comment Letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in response to the agency’s request for comment on FTX’s proposal to offer non-intermediated, margined clearing of Bitcoin futures products: “FTX has filed an application with […]

The Dangerous Allure of Unbound Innovation

A mildly amusing truism in football is that, often, “[n]o player is more popular on a team than the backup quarterback.” In other words, football fans (particularly of lousy teams) are almost constantly clamoring for something different, convinced that a new approach, as represented by a new quarterback, will solve whatever problems are plaguing the […]

Better Markets Urges CFTC to Remedy Deficient Position Limits Rulemaking

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist, released the following statement on a letter Better Markets filed with the Commodities Futures Trading Commission urging the agency to revisit and repair its rule on position limits: “The CFTC’s position limits rule, issued in January this year, was far too weak and the agency must move […]

Advocates Request Review of Harms of CME Group Inc.’s Potential Merger with Cboe and a Study on Existing Concentration Problems

Reported Merger Threatens to Further Consolidate CME Group Inc.’s Near-Monopoly and Increase Lack of Competition in Derivatives Markets WASHINGTON— Better Markets and the Open Markets Institute released the following statement concerning their joint letter to antitrust and financial regulators raising serious concerns about the CME Group’s (CME) near-monopoly in derivatives markets – by some measures […]

Climate Risk and the CFTC

Better Markets urged Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Acting Chair Rostin Benham and CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz to continue their leadership in bringing attention to climate-related risks and using the public visibility of their positions to call for urgent action to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Why it matters. It can no longer […]

Better Markets’ Applauds Biden Administration’s Budget Request Increases for the SEC and CFTC, But Still Far Too Low to Protect Investors and Markets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 28, 2021 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dennis Kelleher, Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, applauded President Biden’s budget request increases for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but noted that they are still insufficient: America’s families, […]

Better Markets Challenges Proposals to Outsource Regulation of Derivatives Markets Overseas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 4, 2021 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Stephen Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist for Better Markets, issued the following statement on the filing of two comment letters to the SEC on proposals to allow compliance with foreign requirements to satisfy U.S. law: “The SEC has […]

Secret Derivatives Trading by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the Latest Hedge Fund Collapse Again Reveal the Dangers of the Unregulated Shadow Banking System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, March 29, 2021 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement in response to reports that Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other systemically significant global investment banks enabled a hedge fund to secretly accumulate […]

New Report Details for First Time 20-Plus-Year Crime Spree of Six Largest Wall Street Banks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] New Report on Wall Street’s Crime Spree From 1998-2020: 395 Major Legal Actions and $200 Billion in Fines/Settlements Lawbreaking by Six Largest Banks Proves It’s Time to Go After Bankers, Not Just Banks Washington, D.C. – Better Markets released […]

CFTC’s Failure to Address Electronic Trading Risks Leaves Derivatives Markets Vulnerable to Flash Crashes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, December 8, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] The CFTC’s Failure to Address Electronic Trading Risks Leaves Derivatives Markets Vulnerable to Flash Crashes Washington, D.C. – Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel at Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures […]

CFTC Staff Report Has a Credibility Problem

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 23, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] CFTC Staff Report on WTI Negative Pricing and Trading Irregularities Lacks Clear Objectives and Objectivity Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) staff […]

Better Markets Commends CFTC Decision to Abandon Worst Elements of 2019 Proposal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, November 20, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Better Markets Applauds CFTC Decision Not to Encourage Regulatory Arbitrage through Expansive Exemptions for Foreign Clearinghouses Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s […]

Better Markets Applauds CFTC Decision Not to Encourage Regulatory Arbitrage through Expansive Exemptions for Foreign Clearinghouses

Earlier this week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized a framework for exempting certain foreign clearinghouses from U.S. derivatives clearing organization registration requirements. Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, discusses the significance of the move. “The Dodd-Frank Act mandates and encourages the migration of significant derivatives risks to clearinghouses, which provide […]

CFTC Facilitates Non-Competitive SEF Trading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, November 19, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] The CFTC Should Not Have Permanently Codified Supposedly Transitional Exemptions from Competitive Trading Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) action to […]

Serious Flaws Remain in the SEC’s Framework Governing Derivatives-related Risks in Mutual Funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, October 28, 2020 Contact: Pam Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) finalization of a new framework governing derivatives use by certain registered funds: “The 2008 financial crisis demonstrated […]

The CFTC’s Long Overdue Position Limits Rule Will Not Stop Excessive Speculation But Will Raise Costs on American Families, Farmers and Producers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 15, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Better Markets’ Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel, today condemned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) final position limits framework for derivatives on physical commodities, explaining that it will increase costs on working families, farmers and producers: […]

CFTC’s Position Limits Framework Likely to be a "Disservice to Americans"

After ten years of rulemaking, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has scheduled a public meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15, to consider a final speculative position limits framework for derivatives on certain physical commodities. From all indications, the forthcoming final rulemaking likely will codify the CFTC’s position limits framework largely as proposed in early 2020. Better […]

The CFTC’s Regulatory Framework Must Keep Pace with the Evolution of the Derivatives Markets

Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel at Better Markets, discusses the need for the CFTC to pass meaningful regulation that addresses electronic trading risks. In the 1983 comedy Trading Places, many Americans were introduced for the first time to Chicago’s commodity futures and options trading pits. Today, 37 years later, those pits have […]

Better Markets Commends the CFTC’s Bipartisan Final Rule Increasing Transparency in the Swaps Markets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, September 17, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) finalization of new real-time public reporting regulations: “Earlier this morning, the CFTC finalized a unanimous, […]

The CFTC’s Misdirection on Electronic Trading Risks Leaves Derivatives Markets Vulnerable to Flash Crashes and Other Market Disruptions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, August 28, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel at Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed regulations governing electronic trading principles: “Electronic trading, while often beneficial to market quality, […]

Better Markets Applauds CFTC for Ending Unfair Anti-Competitive Practice

Last year, Better Markets called on the CFTC to end an unfair anti-competitive and anti-market practice in the derivatives markets known as “post-trade name give-up.” In late June, the CFTC proposed to prohibit this practice once and for all. Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel with Better Markets, says that while the release is far […]

CFTC: Reckless Acts, Little Protection

Recent actions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission this month needlessly exposes Main Street Americans to more dangers from Wall Street’s derivatives dealings, which Warren Buffet correctly referred to as “weapons of mass financial destruction,” and Better Markets detailed why it was so reckless. Earlier in the month, the CFTC implemented final regulations setting forth a […]

The CFTC Recklessly Outsources the Protection of American Taxpayers to Foreign Regulators Who Have Repeatedly Failed to Protect Their Own Taxpayers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, July 23, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed regulations governing the cross-border application of U.S. law: “The old saying ‘Banks live […]

The CFTC’s Final Capital Rule for Swap Dealers May Give the Appearance of Progress Without Making the Derivatives Markets More Resilient

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 22, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s finalization of minimum capital requirements for swap dealers, and others: “This afternoon, the CFTC […]

Cross-Border Regulations Protecting the Financial System From Overseas Risk

Warren Buffet called derivatives ‘weapons of mass financial destruction’ for a good reason. Derivatives were at the core of causing and spreading the 2008 financial crash, and one of the key lessons from that crash was that those risks are not limited by international borders. That is why U.S. taxpayers ended up bailing out both […]

Latest Weakening of Volcker Rule Re Covered Funds Creates Multiple Loopholes, Endangers Financial Stability and Makes Bailouts More Likely

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 25, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) final rulemaking to amend the Volcker Rule’s covered funds provisions: “The Volcker Rule […]

In Unlawfully Eliminating Inter-Affiliate Margin, Bank Regulators Hand Wall Street’s Biggest Banks Nearly $40 Billion, About One-Third of All Regulatory Initial Margin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 25, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel with Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) elimination of initial margin on inter-affiliate derivatives: “Margin on derivatives transactions is a […]

CFTC Rule to End Anti-Competitive, Anti-Market Post-Trade Name Give-Up Practice Imposed by Wall Street’s Largest Derivatives Dealers is a Good Initial Step

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 25, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel with Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) adoption of a prohibition on post-trade name give-up: “We commend the CFTC for partially heeding […]

The CFTC’s Proposed 48-Hour Delay for Block Trades Would Shut Off the Lights in the Swaps Markets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, May 29, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed public swaps reporting and related regulations: “In 2013, the CFTC implemented the […]

The CFTC’s Proposed Position Limits would Not Stop Excessive Speculation but would Raise Costs on American Families, Farmers and Producers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, May 27, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph R. Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed speculative position limits framework: “In simple terms, position limits are restrictions on excessive […]

The CFTC Must Investigate 27% Drop in WTI Oil Prices Caused By Speculators and Review NYMEX’s Actions to Limit Excessive Speculation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, April 28, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to recent trading activities in the oil markets: “We applaud the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for announcing an investigation into the unprecedented disruption of […]

With WTI Oil Futures Prices Negative, Something Is Fundamentally Wrong in The Oil Derivatives Markets–The CFTC Must Investigate Speculative Oil Trading Activities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to recent trading activities in the oil markets: “Something is fundamentally wrong in the oil derivatives markets when—for the first time in history—an oil futures […]

Better Markets, AFREF Urge SCOTUS to Review Second Circuit’s Flawed Decision on Market Manipulation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, April 17, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell, 202-618-6433 [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Stephen W. Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist for Better Markets, issued the following statement about the amicus brief filed today in the U.S. Supreme Court by Better Markets and the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund (“AFREF”) in Atlantic […]

Financial Regulators Should Not Open New Loopholes in the Volcker Rule Allowing Wall Street’s Biggest Banks to Engage in Speculative Activities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, April 13, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the covered funds exclusions from the Volcker Rule ban on proprietary trading proposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the […]

The SEC Must Finalize a Comprehensive Framework for the Use of Derivatives by Mutual Funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Contact: Pamela Russell at [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) re-proposal of the 2015 rulemaking relating to the use of derivatives by funds: “Derivatives were at the core of igniting and spreading […]

Better Markets Fact Sheet on the SEC’s Proposed Derivatives Rules

Although we express significant reservations about certain elements of the SEC’s proposal, in particular the abandonment of the asset segregation framework and the introduction of new proposed derivatives-related leverage limitations (the relative and absolute value-at-risk (VaR) approach), we support initial steps to implement a comprehensive regulatory framework for funds using derivatives-related leverage and posing derivatives-related risks to the […]

RELEASE: The CFTC Must Re-propose Its Capital Framework Once it Has Implemented Financial Reporting, to Ensure the Safety and Soundness of Swap Dealers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 4, 2020 Contact: 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel at Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed reconsideration of 2016 capital regulations applicable to certain swap dealers (SDs) and others: “SD capital requirements are among the […]

RELEASE: Better Markets Commends CFTC’s Steps to Reduce the Dangerous Anti-Competitive Practices by Wall Street’s Derivatives Dealer Club

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 3, 2020 Contact: 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed prohibition of an anti-competitive and anti-market trading practice, called post-trade name give-up: “The four biggest Wall Street banks are also […]

RELEASE: CFTC Proposes to Gut the Real-time Public Trade Reporting Requirements, Plunging the Markets into Darkness but Giving Wall Street Dealers Flashlights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 20, 2020 Contact: 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed rule permitting significant delays in public reporting of derivatives trades: “Earlier today, the CFTC proposed substantial revisions to public trade reporting rules […]

RELEASE: CFTC Reportedly Killing Transparency in the Derivatives Markets by Increasing Trade Reporting Delays by More Than 19,000%, Hurting the Very Firms the Markets are Meant to Serve

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 18, 2020 Contact: Christopher Elliott, 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Joseph Cisewski, Senior Derivatives Consultant and Special Counsel for Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) scheduled meeting to propose significant delays in derivatives trade reporting: “In the darkest days of the 2008 meltdown, […]

Trump’s Budget In Fact Proposes Slashing the CFTC Budget by $57 Million or 20%, Taking the Derivatives Cops off the Beat as Wall Street’s Biggest Banks Want

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, February 10, 2020 Contact: 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement regarding the President’s proposed fiscal year 2021 budget for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): “Dangerous derivatives were at the core of causing and spreading the 2008 financial […]

CFTC Proposal Fails to Stop Excessive Speculation in the Commodities Markets, Driving Up Main Street Prices for Cereal, Bread, Gas, Soda, Beer and Much More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, January 30, 2020 Contact: [email protected], 202-618-6433 Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) newest proposal of a position limits rule: “The CFTC is required by law to prevent excess speculation in the derivatives […]

The Volcker Rule Loopholes Proposed Today Further Reopen the Gambling Casino at Wall Street’s Biggest Banks by Allowing More Proprietary Trading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, January 30, 2020 Contact: [email protected], 202-618-6433 Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the action taken by Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (“Federal Reserve”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) […]

Better Markets Applauds the CFTC’s Bipartisan Action to Limit Dealer Domination of the Derivatives Markets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 19, 2019 Contact: Christopher Elliott, 202-618-6433, [email protected] Washington, D.C. – Dennis M. Kelleher, Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement with respect to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) proposed elimination of post-trade name give-up, a practice that for too long has enabled dealer domination of the […]

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Category: Derivatives

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