Release: 5155-06

For Release: January 31, 2006

CFTC Announces Participation in Providing Expanded Content on MyMoney.gov

Washington, DC—Today Commissioner Sharon Brown-Hruska of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and chairman of the Financial Literacy and Education Commission’s (FLEC) website subcommittee announced the launch of the FLEC’s enhanced website – www.Mymoney.gov. During her presentation at the Financial Literacy and Education Commission (FLEC) public meeting, Commissioner Sharon Brown-Hruska described the enhanced subject areas on both the English and Spanish language versions of the Mymoney.gov website. Through CFTC’s participation and partnership with nineteen other federal agencies that make up the FLEC, www.MyMoney.gov’s purpose to be a clearinghouse for free, federal financial literacy materials is further strengthened. MyMoney.gov now also links to selected .edu sites maintained by publicly-funded colleges and universities affiliated with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), as well as .org sites affiliated with the Federal Reserve Board, offering valuable financial information and learning tools beyond those available directly from federal government agencies. The FLEC’s activities are vital to increasing the public’s awareness of resources available to them.

The goal of the MyMoney.gov website is to provide useful information to individuals who are facing an array of financial situations, such as balancing a checking account, shopping for a mortgage or auto loan, researching ways to pay for a college education, reviewing credit card statements, putting money away for retirement, using safe investment techniques, understanding a credit report, or simply deciding whether to pay cash or charge a purchase. It contains information on how to understand, evaluate and compare financial products, services and opportunities, and assists investors in understanding how to proceed when they encounter difficulties with market intermediaries.

In commenting on the enhanced website, CFTC Commissioner Sharon Brown-Hruska stated, “In today’s economy it is critical that Americans are financially literate. The enhancement to the website and inclusion of new materials are important steps to assuring that consumers have ready access to the rich source of educational materials that federal agencies and their partners produce.”

The Financial Literacy and Education Commission was created by Title V of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, signed by President Bush on December 4, 2003. The Commission is composed of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; the Secretary of the Treasury, chair of the Commission, and the heads of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; the Office of Thrift Supervision; the Federal Reserve; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the National Credit Union Administration; the Securities and Exchange Commission; the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Veterans Affairs; the Federal Trade Commission; the General Services Administration; the Small Business Administration; the Social Security Administration; and the Office of Personnel Management.

Media Contacts
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Last Updated: March 18, 2007