On October 18, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published a proposal in the Federal Register (Proposed Rule) to amend several key compliance and registration regulations governing commodity pool operators...more
11/14/2018
/ Business Development Companies ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Pool ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
CPOs ,
Derivatives ,
Exemptions ,
Filing Requirements ,
General Solicitation ,
JOBS Act ,
No-Action Relief ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Comment ,
Registration Requirement ,
Request For Information
This is the second edition of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this issue, we examine the SEC’s new...more
11/8/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
CNIL ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Data Controller ,
Data Processors ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
FATF ,
FinHub ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
International Data Transfers ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Startups ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency
This is the inaugural issue of The Distributed Ledger, a periodic publication covering the latest trends and developments in blockchain technology, digital assets and smart contracts. In this edition, we examine a federal...more
10/16/2018
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
Fraud ,
Misappropriation ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Research and Development ,
Smart Contracts ,
State Attorneys General ,
State Legislatures ,
Trade Market Abuse ,
Trading Platforms ,
Virtual Currency ,
Young Lawyers
On October 2, 2018, in a speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo forcefully emphasized the agency’s commitment to an active...more
Recent federal court decisions, and a pending appeal in the Ninth Circuit, highlight disagreement among the courts as to the scope of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) anti-fraud and anti-manipulation...more
10/2/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Anti-Manipulation Rule ,
Appeals ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Split of Authority ,
Swaps ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Use in Commerce ,
Virtual Currency
On July 19, 2018, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) published a white paper entitled "Initial Margin for Non-Centrally Cleared...more
7/27/2018
/ CFTC ,
Consultation Periods ,
Covered Swap Entities (CSE) ,
Derivatives ,
End-Users ,
ISDA ,
Margin Requirements ,
New Guidance ,
Over-the-Counter Sales ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
SIFMA ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps ,
Variation Margin Requirements (VM)
On June 29, 2018, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, and together the Commissions) announced that the Commissions approved a memorandum of understanding...more
7/10/2018
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FX Swaps ,
Information Sharing ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps ,
Trump Administration ,
Virtual Currency
On March 6, 2018, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that virtual currencies are commodities under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and therefore subject to the...more
3/8/2018
/ Administrative Authority ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Market Manipulation ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Standing ,
Trial Court Orders ,
Virtual Currency
On January 29, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced the filing of eight anti-spoofing enforcement actions: three settlements with financial institutions and five complaints filed in federal district...more
2/6/2018
/ Aiding and Abetting ,
Buyers ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Extradition ,
Financial Institutions ,
Futures ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Sellers ,
Settlement ,
Spoofing ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swaps ,
Vagueness
In 2017, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo made clear he will strive to improve, not abolish, many reforms the CFTC adopted to implement the Dodd-Frank Act’s mandate for new...more
1/31/2018
/ Benchmarks ,
Bitcoin ,
CCPs ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Popular ,
Swaps ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Virtual Currency
On December 15, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) released its proposed interpretation of the term “actual delivery” with respect to virtual currency retail commodity transactions. A retail...more
Both U.S. and European Union (EU) law require that certain swaps and derivatives trades take place only on approved trading platforms. On October 13, 2017, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) Chairman J....more
On December 1, 2017, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and CBOE Futures Exchange took the necessary regulatory steps to begin trading new bitcoin futures contracts this month. The Cantor Exchange took similar steps to begin...more
On October 17, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) newly formed financial technology (fintech) innovation group, LabCFTC, released its first fintech primer, “A CFTC Primer on Virtual Currencies” (VC...more
11/15/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Financial Instruments ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
LabCFTC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Swaps ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Upon discovering a potential violation, a company is often faced with the dilemma of whether to self-report the incident to its regulator or attempt to deal with the incident through exclusively internal means. On September...more
On August 7, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced a settlement for a civil penalty of $600,000 with the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) for alleged spoofing violations, with...more
8/16/2017
/ Appeals ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodities Traders ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Japan ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
Vagueness
On July 10, 2017, the Division of Market Oversight (DMO) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) announced the launch of a comprehensive review of the swap data reporting regulations1 adopted by the...more
The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York recently dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging, among other claims, that a large number of entities and individuals in the market for producing, refining and...more
7/7/2017
/ Antitrust Violations ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
CME NYMEX ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
International Litigation ,
Market Manipulation ,
Morrison v National Australia Bank ,
Oil & Gas ,
Price Manipulation ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities Violations ,
Sherman Act
On May 30, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) published final rule changes that substantially revise Rule 1.31 (Revised Rule) to modernize record-keeping obligations for any person required by...more
On May 3, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) voted to seek public input on simplifying and modernizing the agency’s rules (Project KISS, 82 Fed. Reg. 21494 (May 9, 2017)). CFTC Acting Chairman J....more
The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York recently dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging that Total, S.A., Total Gas & Power North America, Inc., and Total Gas & Power Limited (collectively, “Total”)...more
4/19/2017
/ Actual Injuries ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Class Action ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Disgorgement ,
Dismissals ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FERC ,
Fraud ,
Market Manipulation ,
Monopolization ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Pleading Standards ,
Price Manipulation ,
Private Right of Action ,
Sherman Act ,
Standing