JPMorgan Chase & Co commodities head Blythe Masters will not be pursuing her appointment at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as part of an advisory committee, Bloomberg said in a report. Citing two sources who were familiar with the decision, Masters decided to withdrew just a day after her appointment was disclosed. Masters said to have stepped down as she will be involved in the sale of the Wall Street bank's physical commodities unit, one source said. The sources refused to be identified as the departure hasn't been announced publicly, although Bloomberg said Masters' name has been removed from the list of committee members on the website of CFTC. She was invited to join the advisory panel by acting Chairman Mark Wetjen, according to one of the people.
The news outlet said JPMorgan is auctioning its business unit that deals in commodities like metals and oil. Masters' appointment spurred a review by watchdogs on whether state-backed lenders should be involved in financial markets at all. Masters is reportedly scheduled to participate in a February to discuss rules on cross-border guidance.
Masters' commodities unit was involved in a settlement with the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over power markets manipulation. The federal agency is stand to receive $410 million from the Wall Street bank unit, and agreed that it release JPMorgan and its employees from enforcement actions in the future by the said agency.
The global markets committee of the CFTC is composed of industry executives whose main role is to enact rules as required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and avoid a repeat of the 2008 credit crisis. The Act is designed to reduce the risk in the global swaps markets and increase transparency in the said market segment. The committee is composed of the world's top investment banks and firms, which include Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
