CFTC Chairman Gensler Delivers Speech about Finance Reform Progress

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler delivered remarks before the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") in which he discussed the ways that securities markets and banking laws have been reformed through Dodd-Frank.Chairman Gensler listed the major areas that have seen reform, including:

• ensuring that the largest financial institutions have the freedom to fail, stating that he was pleased with Moody's recent removal of the uplift in credit ratings of the largest bank holding companies "that had come from perceived government support";
• tougher capital and liquidity standards, and annual stress testing of large banks;
• increased transparency into the hedge fund world;
• the transformation of the swaps market, mentioning that more than 70 percent of the interest rate swaps market is now in central clearing;
• prosecuting bad actors in the markets, as well as exposing the pervasive rigging of interest rate benchmarks, and refocusing the public debate regarding LIBOR and other benchmarks; and
• enhanced lines of communication between agencies, stating that the release of the finalized Volcker Rule is indicative of the agencies' collaborative work.

See: Chairman Gensler's Speech.