On July 25, 2019, the Ninth Circuit reinstated the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) lawsuit in CFTC v. Monex Credit Co.,1 interpreting the CFTC’s Dodd-Frank enforcement authority under Commodity Exchange Act...more
7/31/2019
/ Administrative Authority ,
Appeals ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Price Manipulation ,
Reversal ,
Swaps
In 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) began operating with a full complement of five commissioners for the first time since 2014. Soon thereafter, it held a rare open meeting to propose major...more
1/22/2019
/ CCPs ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Jurisdiction ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swaps
On October 30, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) jointly invited comment on a...more
12/6/2018
/ Banks ,
Capital Requirements ,
CCR Rule ,
Credit ,
Derivatives ,
FDIC ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
OCC ,
Public Comment ,
Risk Mitigation
On November 5, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) held its first open meeting with five commissioners since May 2013. At that meeting, the Commission approved (by a 4-1 vote) proposed...more
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 June 25, 2018, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and other trade associations published a report on the results of a survey of market participant preparedness for the anticipated global transition...more
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
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
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 October 13, 2017, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced two cross-border developments with the European Commission (EC) that take significant steps toward reconciling regulation of cross-border...more
10/19/2017
/ Capital Markets ,
CFTC ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Derivatives ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
EMIR ,
European Commission ,
Financial Markets ,
International Harmonization ,
Margin Requirements ,
MiFID ,
MiFIR ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
SEFs ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps ,
Uncleared Swaps
The U.S. Federal Reserve Board is requesting public comment on proposed plans for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of Financial Research to publish three new reference rates intended as alternatives to the...more
8/28/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Derivatives ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
FRBNY ,
FSOC ,
Interest Rates ,
Libor ,
Loans ,
Mortgages ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Repossess ,
Stock Trades
Plans to end the long reign of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as one of the world's most often-used interest rate benchmarks have recently been confirmed by several top financial regulators. On July 27, 2017,...more
8/16/2017
/ Alternative Methods ,
Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FSOC ,
Interest Rates ,
ISDA ,
Libor ,
Loans ,
Swaps ,
UK
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 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
Less than two weeks into the new congressional session, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a vote of 239 to 182 the Commodity End-User Relief Act1 (the Bill or House Bill), marking the first step by the new...more
1/20/2017
/ Algorithmic Trading ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity End-User Relief Act ,
Commodity Futures Contracts ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Mandatory Clearing Requirements ,
Margin Requirements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Swaps
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has issued an amendment to the Regulation AT framework it originally proposed in December 2015 for automated trading on U.S. derivatives exchanges. Addressing the issues raised in the...more
The CFTC’s newly proposed rules on cross-border transactions address which swap activities affect swap-dealer thresholds and trigger transaction-level swap requirements. These are the latest in a series of CFTC rulemakings,...more
Recently introduced legislation suggests that Republicans and Democrats in post-election Congress will be looking in very different directions on how to amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act...more
7/29/2016
/ Basel III ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cross-Border ,
Derivatives ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
FSOC ,
FX Forwards ,
Political Parties ,
Presidential Elections ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swaps
On June 9, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) proposed to require additional interest rate swaps to be centrally cleared. Since December 2012, the CFTC has required four classes of interest rate swaps...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) adopted a final rule effective March 21, 2016, that eliminates the reporting and recordkeeping requirements under the CFTC’s existing trade option exemption for...more
Recent regulatory actions by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the European Commission (EC) are bringing an end to years of negotiation on how to regulate central clearing counterparties (CCPs)...more
As interest in bitcoin derivatives has increased, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has turned more of its attention toward virtual currencies. For a little more than a year, at least two trading facilities...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed new rules — Regulation Automated Trading (Regulation AT) — that would impose new and potentially burdensome risk and compliance controls on any person engaged in...more
Following the 2008 financial crisis, regulators across the globe have pondered how to ameliorate systemic risk in derivatives markets. At the 2009 G-20 summit, international regulators committed to address this risk through...more