Educating Policymakers

The IFM provided a 3-part derivatives educational course on futures, options, swaps to the professional staff of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. This standing committee, established in 1820, has jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) which regulates derivatives markets.

The course covered the fundamentals of the markets such as the purpose and need for futures markets, market participants,and all the relevant aspects of futures and options, and underlying cash markets. The program discussed the principles and practices of hedging, speculating, clearing and margining. Finally the program explored swaps, the 2008 financial crisis, Title VII of the Dodd Frank Act and SEFs.

Senior staff from the CFTC and National Futures Association also contributed to the educational program on the final day of the course.