Comment Text:
Dear CFTC Official,
After NPR's 2/10/11 story regarding the recent hearings on the subject of regulating the derivatives market, I felt that it was my civic duty to weigh in with a large serving of unsolicited advice.
With regard to establishing any derivative exchanges, complete transparency is necessary, not just of the various financial entanglements of those using the exchanges, but also of the contents of the derivatives being traded on the exchange. When a reasonably educated American citizen looks at the filings of the exchange, the profits that various companies engaged in the derivatives trade, or at the derivatives themselves, they should be able to figure out without too much effort what's going on, why someone (or some company) made the money they made (and how it tied in to the performance of the market), and what they own, even if their exposure is limited to owning a mutual fund that trades in the derivatives market.
Anything that serves to overly complicate the process of buying and selling these things provides more opportunity for bad faith practices and/or manipulation of the system at the expense of individual investors for the benefit of investment firms.
The second piece of unsolicited advice is that anyone who wants the job is probably wrong for it or has their own unenlightened self-interest at heart. With trillions of dollars at stake, the temptation for manipulation is too high.
All best,
Alejandra Riguero
