Commodity Futures Trading Commission
The CFTC regulates futures markets–both financial futures such as S&P 500 contracts and commodity futures such as gold, corn, wheat, etc.–as well as retail foreign exchange or forex markets in the United States. It also regulate options on these products. The organization’s self-stated goal is “to protect market users and the public from fraud, manipulation, and abusive practices” in these markets.
While the US government created the entity in 1974, the most recent update and expansion came in 2000, with the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which brought retail forex under the domain of the CFTC among other things.