Coalition Wants Financial Action in Congress

Americans for Financial Reform and the Commodities Markets Oversight Coalition has joined U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., business leaders, manufacturers, trucking companies and airlines in calling on Congress to stand up to big banks and get serious about controlling the commodities market. The Coalition believes substantial reform efforts are key for the restoration of balance to the economy and harmonizing regulations between the United States and foreign regulators.

"Reining in the dark derivatives market is key to getting capital flowing to community banks and small businesses that are in the best position to stimulate economic growth on Main Street," Cantwell said. "To get our economy on track, we must bring full transparency and capital requirements to the entire derivatives market. This will prevent a repeat of the massive losses in unregulated derivatives trading – losses that taxpayers ultimately paid for."

One of the Coalition members is the National Farmers Union. NFU President Roger Johnson believes Congressional action is essential for rebuilding confidence in these markets as price discovery and risk management tools.  Johnson says it is important to reduce systemic risk and market volatility that has caused extreme artificial spikes in the market, hurting the industry and leading to a long term ripple effect.

Johnson says NFU urges federal lawmakers and regulators to consider the proposed limitations and take action to protect the state of the economy and those involved in the commodity markets.