Author: David Schwartz J.D. CPA
CFTC Chairman, Gary Gensler, says he believes that the days of the opaque swaps market are ending and a new era of transparency and commonsense rules of the road is on the horizon. Gensler's October 10, 2012 address before the George Washington University Center for Law, Economics and Finance Conference provides some insights into how Mr. Gensler and his agency are paving the way for this new era. For starters, regulation of the swaps markets is now catching up to the great financial market reforms of the 1930s, such as public reporting of transactions, central exchange trading, and regulation of dealers. According to Gensler, these new Dodd-Frank regulations are implementing the same kinds of protections that have worked for decades in the securities and futures markets, bringing transparency to and lowering the risk of the swaps market. Mr. Gensler believes applying some time-tested tenants of risk management to swaps markets, and shining a bright light on its activities and players, is the best way to protect investors.