(This article first appeared on Bloomberg)
A former commissioner for the main U.S. overseer of derivatives said the agency should abandon controversial regulatory measures for high-speed traders until Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is elected.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission shouldn’t force traders to hand over records of their algorithmic trading procedures until after a new administration is chosen, said Bart Chilton, the former commissioner. Instead, regulators should finalize less disputed parts of a sweeping proposal to register and boost oversight of automated traders, according to Chilton. That will prevent a legal fight that’s likely to extend past November, he said.
“I would want to see what’s happening with the election” since the new administration may have a different set of priorities for the CFTC, said Chilton, who now works with high-frequency trading firms as a senior policy adviser at law firm DLA Piper. “It’s very likely that it would be litigated.”
The CFTC is still working on the rule and hasn’t given a date for when it will be finalized.
