As a member of the Commission's staff, you will be part of a highly professional and diverse organization, dedicated to public service and high quality work. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is a relatively young, independent Federal agency created by Congress in 1974. Through the regulatory and enforcement efforts of its 550 employees, the CFTC monitors futures exchanges to detect and prevent price distortion and market manipulation and to protect the rights of those who use the markets for commercial or investment purposes. Commissioners serve five-year terms, with one of the five designated by the President to serve as Chairman.
Futures are contracts.
A futures contract is a commitment to buy or sell a product at a specified time in the future. The price is established when the contract is made in open auction on a CFTC-regulated and authorized commodity futures exchange. Each futures contract specifies the quantity of the item and the time of delivery or payment. Futures contracts for agricultural commodities have been traded in the U.S. for more than 100 years, and have been under Federal regulation since the 1920's. Options are also contracts, which give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a futures contract at a given price within a given time.