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In a written testimony before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government Committee on Appropriations, Reuben Jeffery III, Chairman Commodity Futures Trading Commission says:

“We are grateful for the Administration’s recognition of the need for increased funding for our agency. The FY 2008 President’s Budget request, as seen in Figure 5, is for an appropriation of $116 million and 475 staff-years, an increase of approximately $18 million and 17 staff-years over the FY 2007 continuing resolution appropriation of $98 million which supports a level of 458 staff-years.

Second only to our human capital, technology is the single most effective tool in assisting those professionals who oversee the markets. Budgetary constraints have required the Commission over several years to put new systems development initiatives and hardware and software purchases on hold.

CFTC analysts rely primarily on two proprietary computer systems for visibility into the markets. One gives us the ability to see who is trading in the markets and who is building leverage in the market or becoming a large trader – thus developing a position that may influence market conditions. The second allows us to pull in all transactional data from traditional exchanges to identify trading patterns that might be indicative of inappropriate or manipulative trading practices. These two major systems are unique in their ability to provide transparency into cross-market t......................

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