Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia talked about t is crucially important for the Commission to improve and effectively utilize its data so that the Commission develops a complete picture of both the swaps and the futures markets. In many respects, many of the questions regarding the impact of financialization on the commodity markets would be answerable if the Commission had a complete picture of market participants and their trading strategies. the Commission must be mindful of the impact that its regulations have on the cost of hedging in the markets. This is especially true in the commodity markets where a wide range of participants hedge because of the volatility in commodity prices and specialized business needs. If the cost of hedging becomes too expensive, these participants may choose not to hedge or enter into less perfect hedges, which impairs efficient business operations. 

Therefore, looking forward, the Commission must strive to issue clear, consistent, and cost effective rules that are informed by data and that do not interfere with hedging in the markets. Finally, the Commission must re-visit rules that have proved unworkable or overly burdensome. I am encouraged that the Commission has taken the first step by re-visiting its data rules. I encourage the Commission to not stop there and continue to re-visit rules that have impacted legitimate hedging activities. Scott O’Malia’s Address