On April 17, 2025, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") operating divisions ("Divisions") provided guidance in an advisory on the criteria they will use when determining whether to refer self-reported...more
As the Trump administration and Congress seek to establish clear digital asset regulation, uncertainty remains on whether federal agencies consider stablecoins to be "securities" under federal law....more
In a break from the typical acting agency chairman, Acting Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") Chairman Caroline Pham has taken several significant actions, signaled several more, and set the agency on a path to...more
3/26/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
CFTC ,
Comment Period ,
Commodities ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration
As Congress moves to enact comprehensive stablecoin legislation under the Trump administration, both the Senate and the House of Representatives have updated their respective payment stablecoin bills. Our recent Commentary...more
3/18/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinTech ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Stablecoins ,
U.S. Treasury
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's ("CFTC") new enforcement advisory introduces several major changes in policy and a matrix helping those facing potential or actual CFTC investigations quantify the extent to which...more
President Trump's recent executive order "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" promoted the development of dollar-backed stablecoins as official U.S. policy. To facilitate this policy, Congress...more
3/3/2025
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Stablecoins ,
Trump Administration
The United States lacks a regulatory framework geared toward digital assets. This raises consumer protection concerns, causes regulatory turf battles and duplicative enforcement actions, impedes innovation, and puts the...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or “Commission”) has inserted itself in recent years into efforts to scale the cash market for “high integrity” voluntary carbon credits. On September 20, 2024, the Commission...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") recently proposed new and modified conflicts of interest, fitness, and governance regulations for swap execution facilities ("SEFs") and designated contract markets ("DCMs")....more
3/11/2024
/ CFTC ,
Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivatives ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Markets ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Swap Execution Facilities ,
Swaps
On January 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a 2022 jury verdict for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") against EOX Holdings LLC and a former broker, Andrew Gizienski, holding...more
In Short -
The Situation: In a December 13, 2023, Open Meeting, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission proposed amendments to the Commission's regulations concerning clearing member funds held by a derivatives clearing...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") has proposed swap reporting and recordkeeping amendments that would: designate a unique product identifier ("UPI") and product classification system ("PCS") for the "other...more
In Short -
The Background: As voluntary carbon credits ("VCCs") have grown in popularity, questions about their integrity and quality have arisen for investors and among regulators and lawmakers. For this reason, many have...more
12/14/2023
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Carbon Pricing ,
CFTC ,
Derivatives ,
Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) ,
Energy Market ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Investment ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Risk Management ,
SEFs
In Short -
The Situation: The civil action of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") against Archegos Capital Management LP and its CFO is but one of many civil and criminal matters arising out of Archegos's...more
9/28/2023
/ CFTC ,
Consumer Protection Act ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Security-Based Swaps
The Situation: The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") has reopened the comment period for its proposed rule requiring public disclosure of security-based swap ("SBS") positions that exceed certain thresholds....more
8/23/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Comment Period ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Legal Entity Identifiers ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Security-Based Swaps ,
Swaps ,
Third-Party
Introduction -
On June 20, 2023, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") Whistleblower Office, a unit of the agency's Division of Enforcement ("DOE"), issued a rare alert, soliciting tips about...more
The SEC's loss highlights a bigger problem with legislation that calls for sharing jurisdiction with the CFTC over financial products....more
In Short -
The Situation: In parallel federal actions, the Department of Justice ("DOJ"), Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC")...more
7/24/2023
/ CFTC ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Market Manipulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud
This advisory is the latest Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("Commission" or "CFTC") staff action conveying a Commission or staff view that CFTC registrants conducting business in nontraditional ways may need to register...more
In Short -
The Situation: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") staff have issued—and the Commission is now enforcing—a new interpretation of "swap execution facility" that expands the Commodity Exchange Act's...more
In Short -
The Situation: Decentralized finance ("DeFi") is a rapidly growing sector that, by definition, eschews centralized financial institutions altogether. Misconduct that has accompanied that growth has drawn the...more
A group of seven U.S. senators have written a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), expressing concerns with the integrity of the carbon credit markets and urging the CFTC to investigate and regulate...more
In Short -
The Situation: Under the existing legal regimes, decentralized autonomous organizations ("DAO" or "DAOs") have been viewed as a way to hedge against regulatory action by way of a decentralized structure. The...more
In this latest White Paper on our Bill analysis, we underscore headline proposals in the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the “Bill”) regarding consumer protection standards (Title V) and cybersecurity...more
In "Digital Assets Defined: How Lummis-Gillibrand Will Shape the Coming Fintech Debate," we provided a high-level overview of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (the "Bill") and examined some of its significant...more