New Regulations for Derivatives Market
(May 17) The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has announced new regulations on derivatives trading. The failure of the derivatives market was a key cause of the 2008 economic crisis and many investor advocates have called for new oversight and transparency in this $700 trillion (yes, $700 trillion) market, 90% of it controlled by only five major banks. Those advocates are likely to be disappointed by the compromises in the new regime, which legitimizes the power of those five banks, even while it brings previously-secretive trades into a regulated and far more visible trading platform.