By Sarah N. Lynch Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., is pressing President-elect Barack Obama to elevate the stature of the U.S. commodities regulator.
"One of the things I'm working on with the Obama people is we need some robust, knowledgeable people with gravitas appointed to the CFTC," Peterson said, referring to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. "We need someone that can stand toe to toe with Hank Paulson," he added, noting that for too long the CFTC has "clearly been left out of things."
Peterson declined to divulge any names of the people being considered for CFTC appointments, but when Obama takes office in January, he will have to fill a lot more seats than just the chairmanship.
The Obama transition team declined to comment on its plans for the agency, but questions about its future have swirled lately. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department's blueprint for regulatory reform called for the CFTC to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the recent crisis on Wall Street has since revived that discussion.
The five-member CFTC is now down by one person, and Acting Chairman Walter Lukken has signaled he intends to vacate his seat shortly after Obama takes the oath of office.
In addition, Republican Commissioner Jill Sommers' term expires in April and the U.S. Senate still has not officially approved a full second term for Democrat Bart Chilton. He can technically serve until the end of the next Congressional session or until Obama makes an appointment.
Until this year when oil prices hit record highs and the financial crisis struck Wall Street, the CFTC was not a high profile agency. Appointments to the commission were typically not made until well after a new president was inaugurated. But in light of the volatility in the markets, some now believe that Obama will act much quicker to install a new leader at both the CFTC and the SEC.
"Those of us in the Washington legal community who practice in the securities regulatory arena and are watching this meltdown believe there will be early appointments," said James R. Doty, a partner at Baker Botts. "This will not linger. There is a strong consensus among knowledgeable lawyers there will be a break from past practice."
Neither Chilton nor Michael Dunn, the other current Democratic commissioner, have indicated if they are interested in taking Lukken's place as chairman.
A former senior advisor to Tom Daschle, Chilton began working earlier this week on Obama's transition team for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He has declined to discuss his work on the transition team, but he has been a supporter of Obama and gave a speech Wednesday praising Obama's proposed policies on climate change.
He has also been a vocal voice on the commission this year, which could win him points among some Democrats. He was the first commissioner there to publicly call on Congress to grant the agency authority to regulate credit-default swaps, and he dissented on a key report issued by the agency in September because he felt it did not go far enough in its recommendations to bring more transparency to the opaque swaps market.
Dunn, meanwhile, has a good shot of becoming the agency's acting chairman until Obama makes his pick because the CFTC commissioners will likely vote in a new temporary chairman in January. Customarily, the most senior member of the commission who belongs to the party in power is chosen.
Dunn also has significant agricultural policy experience, having previously served as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and the Acting Under Secretary for Rural Economic and Community Development.
Sharon Brown-Hruska, a former acting CFTC chair nominated by President George W. Bush, said that just because Chilton is working for the Obama transition team doesn't necessarily mean he will be tapped for the top spot.
"Certainly the fact that he's in the CFTC doesn't hurt him, but keep in mind he is a Bush appointee - not an Obama appointee," Brown-Hruska said. "I have seen some instances where that doesn't help you to be a Bush appointee."
Brown-Hruska said she thinks Dunn may have a shot at getting picked for the job.
"He has a lot of experience," she said. "He also has good strong support in the Senate."
-By Sarah N. Lynch, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6634; sarah.lynch@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2008 11:45 ET (16:45 GMT)

Publié le 21 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones