Acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mark Wetjen told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services that central counterparties might increase systemic risk, and that the CFTC does not have enough budget to regulate them effectively.
Speaking of Dodd-Frank’s silver bullet for reducing counterparty risk, Mr. Wetjen said, “A clearinghouse’s failure to adhere to rigorous risk management practices established by the Commission’s regulations, now more than ever, could have significant economic consequences.” Mr. Wetjen was requesting extra funding for 2015 on the basis that the number and types of entities the CFTC now regulates has grown sharply since the financial crisis.
Mr. Wetjen’s remarks were in stark contrast to those of his predecessor, Gary Gensler, who saw central counterparties as the best solution to credit risk. Whether the CFTC will get the funds to properly regulate them is another matter. Mr. Wetjen said, “The unfortunate reality is that, at current funding levels, the Commission is unable to adequately fulfill the mission given to it by Congress.”