The CFTC approved a final rule amending a CFTC regulation addressing the timing for filing chief compliance officer annual reports for certain registrants. The final rule amends CFTC regulation 3.3 to provide futures commission merchants, swap dealers, and major swap participants 90 days following their fiscal year-end to file chief... Read More
The CFTC quelled a controversy that had emerged regarding its proposed exemption of certain specified energy products transacted in Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO) by doing a “180” on its proposals that otherwise would have made the general anti-fraud, anti-manipulation, and scienter-based prohibitions that still apply to such transactions under the... Read More
As has been rumored in recent weeks, the CFTC has adopted an order establishing December 31, 2018 as the swap dealer registration de minimis threshold phase-in termination date. With this approval, the de minimis threshold will remain at $8 billion until December 31, 2018 instead of changing to $3 billion... Read More
I previously discussed an SEC Investor Alert which said fantasy stock trading for small amounts of money can violate provisions of securities laws implemented by the Dodd-Frank Act. According to the SEC, the terms “swap,” “security-based swap,” and “derivative” includes any agreement, contract, or transaction whose value is based upon... Read More
Under current CFTC rules, market participants who exceed $8 billion in gross notional swap dealing activity over a twelve-month period are required to register with the CFTC as swap dealers during the phase-in period currently in effect. This phase-in period is scheduled to end, and the threshold will fall, to... Read More
The SEC has again published its annual report to Congress regarding how the SEC has used Form PF data. The section on enforcement and investigation describes the use of the data in SEC examinations. The SEC staff: uses Form PF data to help identify potential examination candidates, such as private... Read More
The CFTC has proposed amendments to its whistleblower rules that reinterpret its anti-retaliation authority and proposes appropriate rule amendments to implement that authority. When the CFTC initially adopted its whistleblower rules, the CFTC was asked to clarify its enforcement authority over retaliation against whistleblowers. Citing the private right of action... Read More
The CFTC has published a proposed supplement to its December 2013 proposed rule on position limits* that would, among other things, authorize designated contract markets and swap execution facilities (“exchanges”) to administer a more flexible approach to the bona fide hedge (“BFH”) exemption from position limits, allowing such exchanges to... Read More
The CFTC has proposed guidance that certain capacity contracts in electric power markets and certain natural gas peaking supply contracts should not be considered “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act. The guidance does not provide a precise definition of the excluded contracts but identifies their common characteristics as follows: “[T]he... Read More
The CFTC announced that a federal court in New York issued a Consent Order imposing a permanent injunction against CFTC Defendants Heet Khara and Nasim Salim, residents of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), prohibiting them from engaging in spoofing in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act. The Order requires Khara... Read More