CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton has hit back at Republican plans to delay for 18 months all rulemakings involving derivatives under the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law.
Four Republican lawmakers on the Financial Services and Agriculture committees are pressing for legislation to extend the deadlines for fear that the reforms could weaken US market during a time of economic recovery.
While the prospects of the proposals being passed are small, CFTC Commissioner Chilton says such legislation is not needed.
"Regulatory reforms are important to implement correctly, but they are also time-sensitive," he says. "Hundreds of trillions of dollars in trading remain completely unregulated. It is exactly this "dark" trading that helped lead to a hideous bail-out paid for by taxpayers."
While acknowledging that regulators may be unable make every deadline required under the reform bill, Chilton adds: "The urgency Congress has already placed on getting reforms implemented is just as important today as it was when this good and needed legislation became law."