Advisory Committees

The CFTC's Advisory Committees were created to provide input and make recommendations to the Commission on a variety of regulatory and market issues that affect the integrity and competitiveness of U.S. derivatives markets. The committees facilitate communication between the Commission and U.S. derivatives markets, trading firms, market participants, and end users. The committees currently include:

The Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Public Law 111-203, and subsequently codified in the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., at 7 U.S.C. §  2(a)(15), and is not subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. The Agricultural Advisory Committee, Global Markets Advisory Committee, Market Risk Advisory Committee, and the Technology Advisory Committee are discretionary committees under the FACA.

The Commission also establishes subcommittees that report to advisory committees as needed. Advisory committee and subcommittee members are generally representatives, but depending on the issues to be addressed, the Commission will appoint special government employees and officials from other federal agencies from time to time. Representatives provide the viewpoints of entities or recognizable groups, and they are expected to represent a particular and known bias. On the other hand, special government employees are expected to provide their own independent judgment in committee deliberations and are expected to discuss and deliberate in a manner that is free from conflicts of interest. Advisory committee and subcommittee members generally serve 2, 3 or 4-year terms, and appointments are made following the establishment of a new subcommittee or as committee or subcommittee vacancies arise.