In a keynote address last week at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia issued a stern warning to financial regulators in the United States and abroad that market fragmentation could have grave consequences on the world financial system. Borrowing a line from the principles that guide medical ethics, O’Malia urged regulators to “Do no harm” in enacting regulations. “Where our rules have proven unworkable” he continued, “it is incumbent upon us to fix them.”

Taking the medical analogy further, O’Malia expressed concern that financial regulations must be harmonized through substituted compliance and mutual recognition of other jurisdictions. “If systemic risk is a cancer of the global financial system,” he warned, “then the whole body must be treated to prevent its spread.” O’Malia, who has announced that that he will be resigning on August 8, pointed to legal, technological, and market abuse protection regimes that must be harmonized among the US and European Union financial systems in order to foster a strong global financial system. O’Malia recognized that such collaboration would require “serious technology investments,” but insisted that uncoordinated regulation of markets would yield an increase in systemic risk.