Newsome leaves CFTC to head up Nymex

James Newsome has quit as chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to head up the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a CFTC spokesman told RiskNews’ sister publication Energy Risk . Newsome’s resignation is effective from July 23, and he will be president of Nymex from August 2, replacing Bo Collins. Collins left at the end of June due to a reduction of his compensation package, said a source at the exchange.

The remaining CFTC commissioners will vote among themselves as to which of them will be made acting chairman until a permanent replacement is appointed, said Commission spokesman David Gary. “It’s likely that the acting chair will be in place for a while,” he added. Gray declined to say whether the financial regulator has anyone in mind to replace Newsome. Newsome has served as CFTC chairman since December 2001.

Newsome said: “Serving President Bush and the public as chairman during a period of record growth and change in the US futures markets has been an honour. I will always be grateful for this opportunity. I believe the foresight of the Congress in passing the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 [CFMA] has contributed to this growth, and I expect the trend to continue with the strong foundation provided by that important legislation.

“I am very excited to be given the opportunity to serve as president of the New York Mercantile Exchange,” added Newsome. “Nymex is a valuable franchise that effectively serves the risk management and price discovery needs of the energy and metals industries. I look forward to building on the successes of the exchange and have confidence that we will be able to do just that.”

During Newsome’s tenure at the CFTC, the number of contracts traded on US futures exchanges has more than doubled on an annual basis, said the Commission. Newsome was a strong supporter of the CFMA, which transformed the Commission’s regulatory structure from one governed by prescriptive rules to one guided by broad core principles, added the CFTC.