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 September 8, the White House published a report (“Climate-Crypto Report”) on Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States, which was followed by a detailed Fact Sheet summarizing the findings in...more
9/23/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Use Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Justice ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Regulations ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Regulatory Agenda
On August 4, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) had withdrawn its no-action letter (i.e., permission to operate) with respect to PredictIt, an online prediction market operated by the University of...more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
On June 24, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) sanctioned Starberry Limited, a Cyprus entity, for operating in the U.S. as an unregistered futures commission merchant (“FCM”) and ordered it to pay $1.3 million...more
Accurate and timely reporting of swap data is the cornerstone of swap regulation. The CFTC had promulgated its swap reporting rules in 2012, and were after 2012 among the first rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act to...more
6/17/2022
/ Amended Rules ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives Clearing Organizations ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Swap Data Repositories ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swaps
On June 2, 2022, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) convened for the first time market participants to discuss the state and the challenges of the U.S. voluntary carbon credit (“VCC”) markets and, at the end of...more
Earlier this week, U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced the first comprehensive legislation to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets to promote innovation, delineate...more
6/10/2022
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FERC ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
IRS ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Stablecoins
On May 25, 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) conducted a public hearing to consider a request from LedgerX, LLC, d.b.a. FTX US Derivatives (“FTX”), to amend its order of registration as a...more
The first in-person ISDA annual general meeting (“AGM”) after the COVID-19 pandemic is wrapping up today in Madrid, Spain. This conference follows the Futures Industry Association Law and Compliance (“FIA L&C”) annual...more
This week, attendees at the FIA L&C conference are gathered in Washington, D.C., for the first time in three years to discuss several issues with significant potential impact on the markets. One such issue is redefining the...more
5/3/2022
/ Broker-Dealer ,
CFTC ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
EU ,
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
New Guidance ,
Regulation ATS ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swap Execution Facilities