On June 20, following a number of consultative papers, reports, committee hearings and public speeches by representatives of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the staff of CFTC’s Division of Enforcement...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission” or the ”CFTC”), on May 31, 2023 published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”), seeking public comment in connection with potential amendments to the...more
On May 30, 2023, the Division of Clearing and Risk (“DCR”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued an advisory (“05/30/23 DCO Advisory”) relating to registered, or those seeking to register as, derivatives...more
On May 17, the staff of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Division of Clearing and Risk (“DCR”) issued an advisory (“Advisory”) that encourages entities using prime brokerage (“PB”) arrangements that provide...more
Earlier this month members of Congress jointly introduced the “Energy Consumer Protection Act of 2023,” with the intention of expanding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) ability to address energy market...more
5/19/2023
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Energy Market ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Federal Power Act ,
FERC ,
Jurisdiction ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trading Policies
Two settled enforcement actions in April 2023 indicate that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) is expecting increased swaps disclosure by swap dealers under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and applicable CFTC...more
On March 27, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), the U.S. derivatives regulator, charged three Binance entities (collectively “Binance”) and its founder and chief compliance officer (“CCO”) with numerous...more
4/7/2023
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Statutory Violations ,
Trading Platforms
Many of the transactions involving qualified financial contracts (“QFC”) with Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and Signature Bank constitute Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) jurisdictional transactions that may be...more
3/15/2023
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Deposit Accounts ,
Deposit Insurance ,
Depository Institutions ,
Derivatives ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Futures ,
Insolvency ,
Qualified Financial Contracts (QFC) ,
Receivership ,
Silicon Valley ,
Swaps
Churchill is credited with saying “Never let a good crisis go to waste” at the end of WWII in reference to lessons learned in rebuilding the post-war world. The rolling collapse in crypto and digital assets’ markets, and...more
In response to changes in business practices, regulations and laws eventually change, too. During the past few years derivatives markets are witnessing this change as it applies to trading facilities as well as to entities...more
3/3/2023
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Derivatives ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Digital Assets ,
Dodd-Frank ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swaps
Much like taxes and mortality, it is certain that during 2023 the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) will promulgate new rules, issue interpretation and guidance, issue no-action letters, engage in...more
On January 23, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), Rostin Behnam, announced in his keynote speech at the Commodity Markets Council’s annual conference that the CFTC “can play a role in voluntary...more
In its last regulatory action for 2022, on December 23, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) published its staff no-action letter No. 22-21 (“NAL”) allowing commodity brokers – Futures Commission Merchants...more
1/9/2023
/ Benchmarks ,
CFTC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Instruments ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment ,
Libor ,
New Guidance ,
Relief Measures ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR)
On December 14, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced in the U.S. Senate a new bipartisan bill, titled "Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022" (the “Bill”), intended to curb the...more
12/20/2022
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
CFTC ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 13, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (the “U.S. Attorney’s Office”), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the...more
12/16/2022
/ Campaign Contributions ,
CFTC ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Equity Investors ,
Extradition ,
Money Laundering ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Trading Platforms ,
Wire Fraud
On October 21, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Commissioner Caroline D. Pham issued a concurring statement to the CFTC’s amended complaint originally filed on April 27, 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the...more
11/3/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Derivatives ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Market Manipulation ,
Over The Counter Derivatives (OTC) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps
On September 26, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) published an order settling charges against Asset Risk Management, LLC (“ARM”), a registered commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) headquartered in Houston,...more
10/14/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure to Comply ,
Market Participants ,
Registration Requirement ,
Sanctions ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swap Market ,
Swaps
On September 27, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued orders to settle charges against 11 major U.S. and international financial institutions and their swap dealer (“SD”) and futures commission merchant...more
On September 22, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) asserted its jurisdiction over a decentralized autonomous organization (“DAO”) and its founders, signaling for the industry that even an unincorporated...more
9/30/2022
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Token Sales
On August 4, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) had withdrawn its no-action letter (i.e., permission to operate) with respect to PredictIt, an online prediction market operated by the University of...more
On August 3, Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, and John Boozman, the top Republican on the committee, introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at regulating digital assets....more
8/5/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Digital Markets Strategy ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Regulatory Reform
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has two levels of jurisdiction under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).
First, there is an exclusive (or regulatory) jurisdiction over “derivatives” on “commodities,”...more
7/29/2022
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Investment Fraud ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Pump and Dump ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Statutory Violations
Once in a while, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) enforcement action confirms market participants’ worst fears that the CFTC is prepared to, and is able to, find violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”)...more
In last week's Cabinet News and Views, we examined the U.S. regulators' approach to the digital asset space, with a focus on the assertion of jurisdiction by the CFTC, the SEC, prudential regulators, state executive and...more
7/18/2022
/ Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Market Manipulation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities Regulation ,
Token Sales ,
Trading Platforms
As more market participants, from consumers to major financial institutions and central banks of various countries, become active in the digital asset space, the U.S. regulators are ramping up their oversight activity related...more
7/11/2022
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Jurisdiction ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stablecoins