Marketers, traders claim new CFTC advisory committee is 'stacked deck'

摘要

The Commodities Futures Trading Commission Friday named members for a recently formed Energy Markets Advisory Committee or EMAC, but physical oil traders expressed immediate and highly visceral reservations about the make-up of the group. EMAC is designed to provide "a public forum" to examine energy markets and the CFTC's role, but there is concern that the group has too many companies with a vested interest in maintaining brisk growth in energy futures, options and derivatives. The committee includes executives from the largest investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and J.P. Morgan. The CEO of the NYMEX, James Newsome, is also on the roster, as is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Intercontinental Exchange - Jeffrey Sprecher. "The CFTC should be ashamed," said a Gulf Coast trader. Another major refinery exec characterized the group as loaded with "Wall Street types," with the exception of a couple "token" marketers. When informed of the composition of EMAC, another New England supplier called it a "stacked deck." One of the more controversial names that will tender advice to the CFTC is former NYMEX President Robert "Bo" Collins, who now runs an investment venture called 1.618 Group LLC. The company is named for the "golden ratio" or the "divine proportion" that was a favorite of the ancient Greeks and was featured prominently in "The Da Vinci Code" novel and movie.