Statement on Signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Office of Financial Research and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Following my confirmation in 2019, our Office of Financial Research (OFR) initiated an all staff effort to fulfill our Dodd-Frank responsibilities. While our mission is simple, it is incredibly important. That is, further financial stability through high-quality financial data, standards, and analysis, principally in support of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and its members.

Our signing of today’s Memorandum of Understanding fulfills an important part of that mandate by ratifying an agreement that was years in the making.

OFR monitors and analyzes both potential and realized stressors in financial markets and institutions, with the objective of clarifying the cause and extent of any associated vulnerabilities. Our Office plays a complementary role in supporting financial stability, which is always important, and especially so during these last few months.

As COVID-related disruptions evolve, our data products continue to provide timely indicators of financial stress. Today’s agreement will provide our Office access to data reported on Form CPO-PQR, with the objective of gaining informative insights to activities and risks of CFTC-registered commodity pool operators (CPOs). The revised Form will increase transparency about the size, risk, and monthly returns of CPOs, and thus complement OFR’s consistent efforts to monitor the private fund space while furthering our Office’s capacity to support FSOC and its member agencies.

Finally, the collaboration between OFR and the CFTC helps implement a recommendation from the FSOC 2019 Annual Report that “relevant agencies continue to review the available data on private funds to assess whether and how private funds may pose a risk to financial stability.”

Thank you Chairman Tarbert for your initiative in spearheading the considerable efforts that have brought us to this signing ceremony – it would not have happened without your leadership. And I’m incredibly proud of the dedication to and consistent efforts of our Office’s staff members to further financial stability, and in doing so, further economic opportunities for America and Americans.