Bye Bye Blythe?
(Reuters) - The head of the U.S. futures regulator has the support he needs to pass a long-awaited rule that would curb excessive speculation in commodity markets, a source with knowledge of the agency's rule-making told Reuters on Tuesday.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced on Tuesday that it would vote on October 18 on a rule limiting the number of contracts any one speculative trader could hold in commodity markets.
The source said the agency was still making changes to the position limits rule and there was a chance changes could upset the balance of support among the five commissioners before next Tuesday.
"I think he does have the votes," the source who closely follows the rule-making process told Reuters.
The CFTC has postponed two scheduled meetings on the position limits plan, with the most recent canceled due to a lack of the three votes needed for its approval.
Curbing excessive speculation is part of the CFTC's efforts to enact sweeping reforms in the Dodd-Frank financial reform overhaul of 2010 that required the agency to regulate the $600 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market.
Gary Gensler, the chairman of the CFTC, told reporters on the sidelines of a Futures Industry Association conference in Chicago that position limits were next on the agency's to-do list, but he declined to say whether he had the support needed to pass it.Read more:
