Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Limits
Excessive Food Prices Speculation

Friends:

Our voices were heard! We are grateful for your participation in our letter-writing campaign to the members of the CFTC asking them to implement tighter regulations around commodities trades to limit excessive speculation. Tuesday’s CFTC vote in favor of imposing position limits was a significant action that will help to stabilize global food prices. While we wish the commission had gone further, this first step signals that the CFTC acknowledges the potential risks associated with the excessive hedging that often takes place in these markets. In spite of significant lobbying from Wall Street, we are gratified to see the commission do their part to uphold the Dodd-Frank mandate to “diminish, eliminate, or prevent excessive speculation.”

Kudos to Chairman Gensler and Commissioner Chilton who were vocal in their support of this critical regulation. And a special thanks to all of you for taking the time to send these letters. Over 400 of you responded to our call to action and more than one commissioner referenced the letters in their comments on Tuesday. We are hopeful that further analysis by the commission leads to even tighter controls in the near future. Rest assured that ICCR will continue to press for increased CFTC oversight of commodities trading with the objective of reducing the volatility of these markets.

Again, thanks for the outstanding support!

Sincerely,

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (www.iccr.org)