The boards may stabilize and raise average prices through the manipulation of commodity flows, with the objective of maintaining reasonably high levels of demand in all markets at all times.
Mr. Geithner said the United States would support measures to limit the potential for the manipulation of commodity prices through greater transparency and oversight of the commodity and derivative markets, which some critics worry are being used by speculators to drive up commodity prices.
Moments before rejecting the Brown-Kaufman proposal, the Senate approved by voice vote an amendment by Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission more authority to crack down on manipulation of the commodities and derivatives markets.
Industrial companies, such as MillerCoors, and lawmakers, including Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), also have raised concerns about possible manipulation of key commodities markets, which may boost banks' profit while leading to higher costs for households and manufacturers.
He contends that Republic, with the coöperation of the government, scapegoated him for its own shady practices and to derail his investigation into manipulations of the commodities markets.
But in the ruling on Friday, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald of United States District Court in Manhattan, while acknowledging that her decision "might be unexpected," granted the banks' motion to dismiss federal antitrust claims and partly dismissed the plaintiffs' claims of commodities manipulation.
"Despite all the caterwauling from Wall Street about CFTC's tough enforcement, there's reason to believe a lot of manipulation in commodities markets goes undetected and unpunished," Miller, the former US congressman, told me.
Thus with such opportunity and temptation for quick wealth, no surprise that allegations of manipulation or fixing of commodity, particularly energy prices, are widespread.
(Separately on Wednesday, federal authorities sued a former MF Global broker for "attempted manipulation" of platinum and other commodities contracts from 2006 to 2008).
Violations of the Commodities Exchange Act, which prohibits manipulation and fraud in the trading of commodities, as well as the Securities Act, which prohibits fraud in the purchase and sale of securities, may be crimes, as is mail and wire fraud, commodities fraud and conspiracy.
