CME: Limits in metals markets not needed

Imposing federal regulations that limit positions in copper, gold and silver futures is neither "necessary nor useful," according to Chicago-based CME Group Inc., the owner of the world's largest futures market.

"Any effort to constrain trading on U.S. exchanges by the major firms that are large enough to hold positions near limits will simply push those firms from regulated and transparent markets into the cash market or to markets beyond the regulatory jurisdiction," CME Managing Director Tom LaSala said today in an e-mailed statement.

LaSala is scheduled to testify tomorrow at a public meeting that will be held by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington to discuss the role of speculators in the metals markets.