The CFTC has a nearly full slate of commissioners with the U.S. Senate’s unanimous vote late yesterday to promote J. Christopher Giancarlo from acting chairman to chairman, and to confirm Brian D. Quintenz, a Republican, and Rostin Behnam, a Democrat, as new commissioners. Quintenz will join the CFTC from Saeculum Capital Management, “where he is… Read More >>
Cryptocurrency Transactions & Operations Start to Emerge
Malta-based Exante, an online foreign exchange, futures, and stocks retail brokerage, has added five cryptocurrency assets onto its terminal -– Litecoin, Ethereum, Monero, Zcash, and Ripple. They join its Bitcoin instruments, which were the first regulated cryptocurrency to make their debut four years ago. The global market for cryptocurrency-based instruments is rapidly gaining ground as… Read More >>
Trump Team Acts to Fill CFTC Vacancy
The White House has nominated a New Jersey Democrat to fill a commissioner vacancy on the five-person CFTC, which has been operating with only two members for some time. The nomination requires U.S. Senate confirmation. The nominee, Russ Behnam, is senior counsel to Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, ranking member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, according… Read More >>
CFTC & SEC Use Videos to Humanize Their Work
The two major government regulators for U.S. markets, the SEC and CFTC, are reaching out via new videos that attempt to make what they do more relevant to mainstream investors, which would be many Americans. It’s encouraging that they are trying to humanize what they do although videos about potential audits and exams might make… Read More >>
CFTC Settles Wash Sales Charges Against Trader & Firm
The CFTC reports that it has simultaneously filed and settled charges against Chicago-based Rosenthal Collins Capital Markets (now known as DV Trading), and one of its former traders. RCCM is accused of “engaging in illegal wash sales in order to generate rebates of exchange fees based upon increased trading volumes,” according to the CFTC, which… Read More >>
Are FCMs Going to Survive?
(Editor’s note: Are futures commission merchants (FCMs) headed for extinction? It’s a fair question as the number of them, 64 as of this past March, has dropped by more than 50 percent over the past 15 years — a key point made in a special report authored by Hester Peirce, director of the financial markets… Read More >>
Sharon Bowen to Step Down Early from CFTC
Calling it “a bittersweet decision,” CFTC Commissioner Sharon Y. Bowen, one of only two members of what’s supposed to be a five-member body, announced last week that she will be leaving her post before her term is up as a way to hasten the process for filling commission vacancies. “My hope is thus that by… Read More >>
Reporter’s Notebook: The Trump Brand is a Hard Sell in Europe
[Editor’s Note: In his first major trip overseas, President Trump included a swing through Europe. Our correspondent in London, Lynn Strongin Dodds reviews the major moments of Trump’s trip and the impressions he left in his wake. The new president is clearly indicating that he represents a brash, new approach to international relations that could… Read More >>
CFTC Issues Open-Ended Relief for Fixing Swaps
The CFTC has issued another in a series of no-action letters that allows swap execution facilities (SEFs) and designated contract markets (DCMs) to fix clerical and operational errors that caused swap transactions to be rejected for clearing and thus voided. In addition, the side-stepping of key regulatory requirements will also permit SEFs and DCMs to… Read More >>
Whistleblowers May Survive Trump’s Regulatory Overhaul
While the Trump Team is clearly trying to change the dynamics of key regulators such as the SEC and CFTC, one popular and successful service — support for whistleblowers — may be staying pretty much the same. In fact, it appears the CFTC may be strengthening its support of its whistleblowers program, which is a… Read More >>
