Fed Re-evaluating Commodities Control Ruling

The Federal Reserve announced that they will be reviewing their rulings regarding Banks trading commodities after receiving complaints.

Since the Bank Holdings Act, which is over 50 years old, deposit holding banks have been disallowed from directly holding commodities. But in 2003, the Federal Reserve put in place a provision letting non-commercial banks deal in commodities, but forbade them from dealing in commodities storage. According to Bloomberg, however, the ten largest banks generate over 6 billion dollars in revenue from trading in commodities, both financially and tangibly.

However, some have voiced concern that it is perhaps un-competitive to have a Bank having financial and physical holdings. As a Senate Subcommittee is investigating JP Morgan for possible gas price manipulation, the subject of commodities has been increasingly important. U. S. Sentaor Sherrod Brown has voiced his own concern regarding the potential for manipulation. “When Wall Street banks control the supply of both commodities and financial products, there’s a potential for anti-competitive behavior and manipulation,” he said in an article for Bloomberg.

The Federal Reserve will be analyzing their stance on the ruling on the 23rd.

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