On April 4, 2025, the CFTC's Division of Market Participants issued No-Action Letter 25-09 regarding the controversial Pre-Trade Mid-Market Mark ("PTMMM") requirements in CFTC Regulation 23.431, effectively eliminating the...more
4/17/2025
/ CFTC ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Market Participants ,
No-Action Letters ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Swap Dealers
On March 19, 2025, the SEC made two significant updates to the Marketing Rule's FAQ page. DWT discussed the SEC's recently adopted Marketing Rule (Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940) in our 2024 post, and...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released its final guidance regarding Designated Contract Markets' (DCMs) listing of voluntary carbon credit (VCC) derivative contracts for trading, marking a pivotal...more
11/18/2024
/ Carbon Taxes ,
CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Contract Terms ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Market Manipulation ,
Popular ,
Private Sector ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Tax Credits
After two decades and three proposed rulemakings on whether investment advisers should have anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program requirements and attempting to identify the...more
10/8/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Exempt Reporting Advisers (ERAs) ,
Final Rules ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Risk Assessment ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On September 6, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of KalshiEx LLC ("KalshiEx"), lifting a September 2023 order issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") prohibiting...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the Exchanges were active across a host of regulatory issues impacting fintech companies and broker-dealers during...more
10/2/2024
/ Analytics ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Books & Records ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Disciplinary Proceedings ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Influencers ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
MSRB ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
In the dynamic world of financial regulation, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has been actively addressing market manipulation with enforcement actions to ensure market integrity. The CFTC's recent settlement...more
9/10/2024
/ Ambiguous ,
CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Innovation ,
Market Manipulation ,
Noncompliance ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Settlement
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dealt a significant blow to the cybersecurity enforcement efforts of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission). In its July 18, 2024,...more
7/25/2024
/ Audits ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Internal Controls ,
NIST ,
Public Statements ,
Scienter ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Violations ,
SolarWinds
On June 17, 2024, the CFTC's Division of Enforcement announced that it had reached a settlement with Trafigura Trading LLC ("Trafigura") over allegations that the firm manipulated oil derivatives prices while discouraging...more
7/2/2024
/ Anti-Bribery ,
Carve Out Provisions ,
CFTC ,
DOJ Strike Force ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Enforcement ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Harassment ,
Market Manipulation ,
Misappropriation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Professional Regulators ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Investigators ,
Trading Platforms ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies
Updated: reporting requirements for swap dealers, swap participants, and large traders in the futures and options market
On April 30, 2024, in two separate releases, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC")...more
For the second time in a decade, the Department of Labor (DOL) attempted to expand the reach (and requirements) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). On April 23, 2024, DOL succeeded and announced...more
5/7/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Rules ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology solutions ("AI") is becoming increasingly common in all industries, including the registered investment adviser ("RIA") space. A recent survey by AI platform...more
5/6/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Automation Systems ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement ,
Fraud ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Investment Management ,
Machine Learning ,
Portfolio Managers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
As we move further away from the one-year anniversary of the compliance date for the SEC's new Marketing Rule 206(4)(1) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the "Marketing Rule"), Registered Investment Advisers ("RIAs")...more
On January 24, 2024, the CFTC's newly formed AI Task Force announced the issuance of a request for comment (RFC) on the current and potential uses and risks of artificial intelligence (AI) in the derivatives markets the CFTC...more
Like many other industries, Registered Investment Advisers ("RIAs") have dealt with significant regulatory, technological, and systemic change in recent years. Compared to FINRA-regulated entities, RIAs often face these...more
1/19/2024
/ Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cybersecurity ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 ,
Marketing ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Private Funds ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC" or "Commission") issued two proposed rules on December 18, 2023, both of which are now open for public comment. The first proposed rule would create an "Operational Resilience...more
On November 7, 2023, the Division of Enforcement ("Division") of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") released its annual report of the results of its enforcement efforts, announcing that it had...more
12/15/2023
/ CFTC ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
HSBC ,
Interest Rates ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Restitution ,
Spoofing ,
Swap Dealers ,
Unfair Trade Practices Act
On December 4, 2023 the CFTC issued proposed guidance regarding the listing of voluntary carbon credit ("VCC") derivative contracts ("Proposed Guidance"). The Proposed Guidance outlines factors that designated contract...more
On May 3, 2023, the Commission announced that it adopted amendments to two rules enhancing disclosure requirements for share repurchases and private fund reporting. First, the Commission adopted amendments to the rules on...more