SEC chief calls for merger of commodity futures, stock market regulators

Christopher Cox, chairman of the US Securities Exchange Commission, has suggested a merger of SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), for what he said, bridging regulatory gaps.

Cox also called for rectifying the current regulatory regime in which there is no statutory regulator for investment bank holding companies, assessing core competencies, and for keeping securities and commodities markets fiercely independent.

He suggested the setting up of a select panel for financial services regulatory reform to explore the merger of SEC and CFTC.

''This would bring futures within the same general framework that currently governs economically similar securities,'' Cox said during a Congressional hearing.

He said closer collaboration between the agencies or a merger of the two could help bridge regulatory shortfalls and cover overlaps.

Cox's suggestion is in accord with an earlier proposal made by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for setting up a super regulator which would assume the roles of both the SEC and the CFTC.