Bloomberg Markets story leads to CFTC investigation

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is investigating the fees charged to investors in the managed futures market after a story in Bloomberg Markets magazine raised questions about them, reports David Evans of Bloomberg News.

Evans writes, “CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton says the agency initiated the inquiry after Bloomberg Markets magazine reported in its November issue that 89 percent of the $11.51 billion profits of 63 managed futures funds was consumed by commissions, fees and expenses.

“‘Of all a regulator’s duties, first amongst those should be safeguarding consumers,’ Chilton says. ‘That includes highlighting, and potentially banning, excessive fees that can gobble up profits.’

“The CFTC probe comes as a U.S. Senate committee today sent a letter urging the agency to work with the Securities and Exchange Commission to study ways to provide clearer disclosure of high fees charged to retirement accounts invested in managed futures funds.

“‘As Chairman and member of the Special Committee on Aging, we take very seriously our responsibility to safeguard the investment security of older Americans,’ Chairman Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, and Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote to CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler.”

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