No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the Office of the Chief Economist, headed by the Chief Economist who serves as economic advisor to the Commission and performs functions such as economic analysis, regulatory cost-benefit analysis, and research. It authorizes the CFTC to appoint professional staff—including economists, research analysts, data specialists, or those with specialized knowledge of futures, swaps, commodities markets, financial market regulation, data analysis, or information technology—to competitive service positions in the office using excepted service appointment authorities without regard to competitive service rules. (Such appointments do not convert the positions to excepted service.) This section also amends CEA Section 15(a), which requires the CFTC to consider costs and benefits in rulemaking, as follows: (1) requiring coordination with the Office of the Chief Economist before finalizing rules; (2) replacing "futures markets" with "markets under the jurisdiction of the Commission"; and (3) adding "considerations of market liquidity" as a factor to evaluate (with conforming redesignation of subsequent subparagraphs).