Chilton Calls for More Accreditation of Commodity Traders

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton, who appears to be a hero of  the "silver is manipulated" crowd, is according to Platts, in Brussels stating that commodity markets need more robust accreditation of traders so regulators know who they are.

The only thing accreditation does is keep the thumb of regulators on everyone's back. Capture the regulators and then you have a pre-installed thumb to move markets, regs, whatever, your way.

The problem with Chilton is he really thinks the CFTC makes markets better. At the same time, he is being schmoozed by those who want to capture and influence his power.

I'm not in favor of CFTC regulation of derivatives, but the derivatives sector is a clear example of how influence works. The dervatives players have gotten to the CFTC and the CFTC has announced it will delay derivatives rules originally set for July 16. Chilton in a statement tried to explain away the delay:

We are taking these actions today out of necessity in an effort to provide time to craft thoughtful regulations and, to the extent practical, give some certainty to those impacted by the rules.

Got that? "...give some certainty to those impacted by the rules." Translation: The CFTC has been captured by the derivatives players, but we at the CFTC haven't been given our marching orders yet.