WINNIPEG (Staff) – Proposed changes to the Grain Futures Act would not necessarily mean the Canadian Grain Commission would take a more direct role in a market emergency, such as the one surrounding the June 1994 canola futures contract.
Peter Clarke, the commission’s supervisor of grain futures trading, said the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange would take primary responsibility for handling emergencies.
“Things get difficult when the regulator starts managing the market,” Clarke said. “That’s the last thing we want to do is manage the market. We just want to make sure that (the WCE is) managing the market.”
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The commission could ask market participants for information directly, Clarke said, but that would be the main difference.
The proposals are based on recommendations made by Bob Purves, a former WCE president who was hired to study the act and how commodity exchanges around the world are regulated.
A working group of those involved in the grain futures trade then examined the report and made further recommendations.
Fred Siemens was part of the group. The WCE president said the exchange will examine the proposals to make sure members are comfortable with them and will likely have comments for the grain commission.
“The primary responsibility for issues dealing with trade improprieties rests with the commodity exchange itself,” Siemens said. “And we want to ensure this model preserves that.”
