The recommendations aim to achieve these objectives through: evaluating regulators' oversight programs against the standards set forth in the Tokyo communiqué; reviewing regulators' powers to ensure they are able to  access  the information necessary for  effective market surveillance; promoting improvements or eliminating impediments to regulators' legal and regulatory frameworks that may inhibit their ability to detect and enforce manipulation cases; and establishing periodic meetings among futures market regulators to share concerns on trends and developments in commodity markets as well as the sharing of market surveillance and enforcement techniques. 
 
Kathleen Casey, chairman of the technical committee, says: 'Commodities markets, and the trade in their related futures, are fundamental to a vibrant global economy.  Given the growth in these markets, and recent volatility in commodities prices, there are concerns about the possibility of market manipulation involving both these futures markets and related physical and OTC derivative markets.
 
'The complexity and frequent opacity of factors that drive price discovery in the futures markets, combined with the critical importance of commodities markets to the world's economy, argue for continued vigilance to promote the transparency of futures market price formation and the interconnections between regulated futures and related commodity markets.  Iosco believes that the recommendations published today will ensure that regulators have the appropriate information and tools available to them to monitor futures markets effectively and act against any market manipulation.'