US Regulator CFTC Asks for Public Input on Rule Simplification

One of the chief US financial regulators, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC CFTC The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss The 1974 Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) in the United States created the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The Commission protects and regulates market activities against manipulation, fraud, and abuse trade practices and promotes fairness in futures contracts. The CEA also included the Sad-Johnson Agreement, which defined the authority and responsibilities for the monitoring of financial contracts between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commiss Read this Term), announced that it is looking into public input on simplifying its rules. The effort is aiming to modernize the rule structure and is part of a broad effort called Project KISS, which stands for 'Keep It Simple, Stupid'.

Earlier this year an executive order signed by Donald J. Trump mandated all federal agencies to explore how to simplify their rules. KISS will conduct internal reviews and come up with ways to improve cost efficiency and reduce regulatory red tape where possible. The effort is not part of a major regulatory overhaul, but rather an optimization effort of existing rules.

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Costs Optimization in Application of Existing Rules

The CFTC is asking for public input on which parts of the agency’s regulations can be reshaped and optimized, and how the regulatory framework can be applied more efficiently. Industry, other stakeholders and interested parties as well as the broader public are welcome to submit their ideas.

Public submissions can be made by emailing the CFTC on projectkiss@cftc.gov or visiting cftc.gov/projectkiss.

According to the CFTC’s Acting Chairman Giancarlo, the existing rules will not be rewritten, nor there will be new rules.

Commenting on the effort, he said: “At times the CFTC rules are unnecessarily complex, and the harder they are to understand and costly to follow, the less dynamic and vibrant these markets become.”

“When that happens, goods we buy like groceries, heating oil and airline tickets get more expensive because their production prices cannot be easily hedged. Industry will still have to comply with CFTC rules and Congressional laws, but we need to be able to do so in a way that makes sense and reduces regulatory burdens,” he explained.