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Derivatives, Speculation Focus of Senate Ag Hearing

The Senate Ag Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to talk about several issues. According to Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee will discuss petroleum and the extent to which there is speculation in that area that should be regulated.

"It ought to be and I spoke last September to people in the previous CFTC about that," Grassley said. "There are people friendly to that point of view and I believe maybe even the new chairman is friendly to that point of view. I hope that the committee makes a sound point to the CFTC that they ought to be doing this."

The major issue that will be addressed during the hearing is derivatives. Senate Ag Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, introduced legislation that would require all over-the-counter futures trading be done on regulated exchanges. The hearing is designed to help move that bill forward.

"It's a little difficult to regulate derivatives that are not a commodity that is easily measurable like a bushel of wheat or a barrel of oil," Grassley said. "But for sure there needs to be much greater transparency in derivatives."