Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives can be scary. Derivatives may pose an unsuitably high amount of risk for non-institutional investors yet are being sold by dealers around the world to investors who do not clearly understand the products.
According to Reuters yesterday, U.S. Representative Stephen Lynch said that “taking a ‘soft approach” to regulating OTC derivatives would be a mistake, but that appears to be the direction lawmakers are leaning.” Representative Lynch further said “by allowing a significant part of the derivatives market to just go off unregulated … we’re setting ourselves up to fail.”
After the meltdown of 2008 and 2009, now is the opportunity to address the concerns related to OTC derivatives. Hopefully, Representative Lynch’s perspective will prevail and public investors will be further protected.