Walt Lukken, president and chief executive officer of FIA, testified before the Senate Agriculture Committee today at a hearing on the failures of MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group. In his testimony, Lukken outlined the FIA’s recommendations for improving customer funds protections. These recommendations include strengthening internal controls at futures commission merchants, using technology to independently verify customer balances in segregated accounts, and providing customers with greater visibility on the investment of their funds. Lukken acknowledged that even the most comprehensive compliance framework can be confounded by people determined to engage in wrongdoing, but said these measures would make it significantly harder to misuse customer funds.
“There is no easy solution—no magic bullet—that will bring back the lost trust from these incidents,” Lukken told the committee. “Instead, it’s going to take time and hard work across the industry to implement these improvements to earn back the public's trust. Customers deserve better and FIA is wholly committed to winning back their confidence by ensuring they have the highest degree of protections going forward.”
Statement of Walter L. Lukken, President and Chief Executive Officer, Futures Industry Association available in Resources on the right.
