FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Friday, March 11, 2016
Contact: Shanessa Bryant, 202-618-6433 or sbryant@bettermarkets.com

Washington, DC — Better Markets President and CEO Dennis Kelleher released the following statement regarding today’s CFTC announcement that the industry drafted biased report from its Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee on position limits is being withdrawn:

“The CFTC’s repudiation today of a report by its biased industry-stacked advisory committee is good news for consumers, transparency, oversight and accountability.  Such advisory committees are often little more than vehicles for secret backdoor industry influence at the financial rulemaking agencies, causing the public interest to be subordinated to industry profits.

“Unfortunately, a corrupted CFTC advisory committee isn’t an isolated event.  Such practices are common as can be seen at the SEC with the Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee, which is also stacked with industry insiders seeking to protect their profits rather than investors.  Advisory committees should be balanced and prohibit industry domination, which enables private interests to hijack rulemaking priorities and improperly influence these key agencies.  We call on the CFTC, the SEC and other rulemaking agencies to clean house and put their advisory committees on the side of the public interest where they belong.

“We applaud Ty Slocum from Public Citizen, the non-industry participant on the committee, for blowing the whistle and bringing this disreputable conduct to light.  We also thank Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D. MA) for immediately writing to the CFTC and asking the fundamental questions raised by this misconduct, including possible violations of law.”

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Better Markets, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street, and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business, and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements, and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.