SEC and CFTC Announce Historic Memorandum of Understanding Between Agencies

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to guide coordination and collaboration between the two agencies to support lawful innovation, uphold market integrity, and ensure investor and customer protection. The MOU reflects both agencies’ commitment to provide fair notice to market participants, respect individual liberty, and foster lawful innovation with the minimum effective dose of regulation to enhance U.S. competitiveness in finance. “For decades, regulatory turf wars, duplicative agency registrations, and different sets of regulations between the SEC and CFTC have stifled innovation and pushed market participants to other jurisdictions,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “This updated Memorandum of Understanding will serve as a roadmap for a new era of harmonization between the agencies – one that is critical to support U.S.