SEC and CFTC Aim to Enhance Market Efficiency by Harmonizing Regulations

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday (Sept. 5) that they aim to harmonize their regulations to provide markets with clarity and bolster the strength of America’s capital markets.

“It is a new day at the SEC and the CFTC, and today we reaffirm the need to ensure regulation does not stand in the way of progress,” SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins and CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham said in a joint statement. “By working in lockstep, our two agencies can harness our nation’s unique regulatory structure into a source of strength for market participants, investors and all Americans.”

The SEC and the CFTC also announced Friday that they will hold a joint roundtable on Sept. 29 that will discuss the agencies’ regulatory harmonization priorities. The roundtable will be held at the SEC headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public, broadcast live on the SEC’s website and available in a recording posted later on the SEC website, according to a Friday press release.

“This roundtable represents a pivotal step toward building more coherent and competitive U.S. markets,” Atkins and Pham said in the release. “By working together to align our regulatory frameworks, the SEC and CFTC can reduce unnecessary barriers, enhance market efficiency and create space for innovation to thrive. Our shared goal is to ensure that America remains the global leader in capital markets.”

The SEC and the CFTC said Tuesday (Sept. 2) that they are working together to provide spot crypto asset market participants with trading venue choice and optionality.

The agencies released a joint statement then saying that SEC- and CFTC-registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating the trading of certain spot crypto asset products.

In their Friday joint statement, Atkins and Pham said Tuesday’s joint statement “is only a first step.”

“To the extent possible and appropriate in the public interest under existing statutes, our respective agencies should consider harmonizing product and venue definitions; streamlining reporting and data standards; aligning capital and margin frameworks; and standing up coordinated innovation exemptions using each agency’s existing exemptive authority.”