Brown-Hruska to serve as CFTC acting chairman

Sharon Brown-Hruska has been appointed by US president George Bush to serve as acting chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Brown-Hruska was previously a CFTC commissioner and will take over the duties of outgoing chairman, James Newsome, until Bush appoints a permanent replacement.

The CFTC is now down to a skeleton staff of Hruska-Brown and Commissioner Walter Lukken. Usually there are five commissioners. But the acting chairman says that the agency will still be able to vigorously monitor trading activity. So far the CFTC has charged 25 companies and individuals with illegal trading in the energy markets and has collected over $222 million in fines. Just last week the agency imposed a $35 million fine on Enron to settle charges that the company manipulated US natural