The new head of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Tuesday pledged to work with Congress to step up regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market and combat excessive speculation in energy markets. Gary Gensler, who officially took the helm of CFTC last week, told a Senate panel that last year's spike in commodity prices - which included crude oil futures hitting a record $147/bbl in July - was the result of an "asset bubble" pumped up by index funds and other speculators.
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