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Commodities

Our member firms doing business in commodity markets play a crucial role for the global economy by facilitating price discovery and helping end-users manage risk.

The futures industry has its roots in commodities, with farmers, miners, producers and other businesses using these financial instruments for price discovery and risk management. While the futures and cleared derivatives industry continues to grow and expand to new markets, FIA maintains a close focus on the issues and challenges affecting the commodity markets, from end-users to brokers to exchanges to clearinghouses. Our primary goal is to protect and promote healthy commodity derivatives markets.

For over two decades, FIA has operated member committees and working groups dedicated to commodities. These groups meet regularly across regions to discuss the latest policy, regulatory and operational developments impacting any member active in commodity derivatives markets. Visit our Member Forums page to learn more about these committees and working groups. 

  • EU competitiveness dominates European conversations

    Whether you follow the news on the new institutional cycle of the European Commission or you have attended a policy conference in Europe lately, every conversation finds a way back to discussing the EU’s ongoing Capital Markets Union debate. EU leaders are keenly interested in attracting capital to its markets. The question of whether they will tackle the difficult issues will determine their overall success.

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  • Energized by the energy markets

    Earlier this month, FIA hosted its annual commodities forum in Houston, Texas. In the hometown of the energy industry, we brought together people from across the commodities landscape for discussions about how much the energy industry has changed and what opportunities for the futures industry lie ahead. Listening to our speakers, I heard the same refrain: demand will increase even more as energy markets grow increasingly complex and volatile.  

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  • Margin requirements and liquidity planning: Four case studies in commodity futures

    Energy markets have been subject to a series of shocks in the past few years, all of which have had a significant impact on prices of the derivatives traded on these products and as a consequence the margin requirements demanded from traders in the derivatives market.

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  • FIA responds to EBA-ESMA review of the prudential framework for investment firms

    FIA responded to the EBA-ESMA discussion paper on the European Commission call for advice on the investment firms' prudential framework, noting the importance of ensuring EU IFR/D is fit for purpose and that the application of prudential rules to commodity firms would be inappropriate, unduly complex, disproportionate and limit market entry for many small-size market participants.

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Access a full archive of older FIA work related to commodities