In 2010, President Barack Obama's financial overhaul law gave the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) 60 rules that it was charged with putting into motion to help regulate the banking and trading practices that many of the President's staff and supporters blamed for sending the country into the Great Recession. Since this legislation, and under the leadership of Gary Gensler, the CFTC was able to implement 43 of the 60 rule changes, which seems respectable compared to the 35 out of 95 rules the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was able to put in action and the 43 out of a whopping 135 for federal bank regulators. However, Gensler's term as head of the CFTC is up in January, and the president has reportedly tapped Timothy Massad, current head of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), to take the reins come 2014.
By placing Massad as the head of the CFTC, the president is expected to use his the former TARP head's high profile to urge congress to fully support this extremely thinly funded CFTC. If this were to happen, it would further the government's role in regulating the free market and also put a drain on the nation's cash reserves at a time when our national debts have never been higher.
Among the tasks that Massad will be asked to implement during his tenure at the CFTC is the Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks for trading for profit. Adoption has been delayed so much because of fierce opposition from Wall Street as well as disagreement across both sides of the aisle on the rule's final form.
Because the current administration has been facing so many obstacles implementing its questionable policies because of disagreement from lawmakers, it will be some time before government stability occurs that is conducive to a healthy economy on the long-term. As a result, investors need to look into asset protection to ensure their retirement investments are protected.