07.21.11

Cantwell on Wall Street Reform Anniversary: ‘The Speculative Bubble is Growing Again’

On One-Year Anniversary of Historic Reform Package, Cantwell Calls for Continued Action on Behalf of Main Street

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, on the one-year anniversary of the historic Wall Street reform bill becoming law, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement:

“Right now, Congress is debating how to get our fiscal house in order, as we move forward from our country’s worst economic collapse since the Great Depression. But we still have not fixed many of the root problems that caused our economy to collapse in the first place.

“One year after Dodd-Frank, the speculative bubble is growing again.Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data shows that speculative positions have climbed to an all-time high as recently as April of this year – up 64 percent from June 2008 when crude oil prices reached $147 per barrel. In 2000, before limits on oil trading were lifted, speculators made up about 35 percent of the oil market. In 2008, that number jumped to over 70 percent. And now, as CFTC Chairman Gensler said just last month, Wall Street speculators now dominate the oil futures market to the tune of more than 80 percent.

“One year ago, Congress gave the CFTC the power to rein in excessive oil speculation. It’s time for the CFTC to act on behalf of consumers.This is one of several crucial reforms required by Dodd-Frank on which federal agencies continue to drag their feet, and today I urge them to finish the job. 

“We have taken substantial steps forward, including implementing a tough anti-manipulation rule that protects consumers from bad actors in commodities markets.  

“But working families and Main Street businesses are still paying the price for Wall Street’s financial collapse. One year after the passage of the historic Wall Street reform bill, we must continue to implement substantive reform on behalf of American consumers.” 

For more information on Cantwell’s fight to secure mandatory speculative position limits, strong anti-manipulation tools, and tough new regulations of derivatives in the final Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill, click here.

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