CFTC – Global Investment Law Watch

United States: Dele-great!: CFTC Staff Allows CPO Delegation Structures to Remain Intact

Mar 02 2026

By: Sarah Riddell, Pablo Man, and Martina Sandoval Iriarte

As previously discussed in our client alert, the industry celebrated the no-action relief from registration as a commodity pool operator (CPO) (the Relief). The Relief, however, raised certain questions in connection with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) staff’s class delegation relief under CFTC No-Action Letter No. 14-126 (Letter 14-126), which requires that the “Designated CPO” to whom the non-registrant (i.e., the “Delegating CPO”) delegates CPO responsibilities be a registered CPO. In particular, the Relief called into question whether private fund general partners or boards of directors of offshore private funds, who are Delegating CPOs, would need to continue delegating CPO responsibilities to a registered CPO pursuant to Letter 14-126 or whether they could instead delegate these responsibilities to a registered investment adviser that relied on the Relief.

United States: Who Could Have Guessed? Multiple Sponsors File for Prediction Market Based ETFs

Feb 19 2026

By: Thoreau A. Bartmann, Todd S. Fishman, Kevin R. Gustafson, and Sarah V. Riddell

In the last week, multiple ETF sponsors filed for first-of-their-kind ETFs based on event contracts tied to political outcomes. These funds would invest in swaps referencing binary event contracts—or directly in the contracts themselves—tied to which party controls the House and Senate in 2026, and which party wins the 2028 Presidential Election.

United States: STOP! START AGAIN! JUST KIDDING, STOP AGAIN! SEC Provides 11th Hour Extension of Compliance Date for Amended Form PF

Jun 11 2025

By: Pablo J. Man and Ruth E. Delaney

With less than a day to go before the 12 June 2025 compliance date for the SEC and CFTC’s jointly adopted amendments to Form PF, the SEC, together with the CFTC, voted today to further extend the compliance date for the amended form to 1 October 2025.

United States: In First Major Speech as Acting CFTC Chairman, Pham Describes Policy Priorities

Feb 05 2025

By: Cheryl L. Isaac, Sarah V. Riddell, and Mallory M. Cooney

In a fireside chat at the ABA Futures & Derivatives Law Committee Winter Meeting on 30 January, Acting Chairman Caroline Pham shared her industry-friendly agenda for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). She described specific goals for the agency in the coming months (discussed below) and encouraged listeners to read her past dissenting statements for even more context about her priorities.

United States: Phew! Form PF Amendments Deadline Extended (So You Can Procrastinate a Little Longer)

Jan 29 2025

By: Ruth E. Delaney and Pablo J. Man

The SEC and CFTC have extended the compliance date for their jointly adopted amendments to Form PF (originally 12 March 2025) to 12 June 2025.

United States: End of Summer Pool Party: CFTC Approves Final Rule Amending 4.7 Regulatory Relief for CPOs and CTAs

Sep 17 2024

By: Cheryl L. Isaac

On 12 September 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) published a Final Rule impacting registered commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) relying on the regulatory relief provided under CFTC Regulation 4.7. “Registration light,” as Regulation 4.7 is sometimes known, provides reduced disclosure, reporting and recordkeeping obligations for CPOs and CTAs that limit sales activities to “qualified eligible persons” (QEPs).

United States: After Approval at DC District Court, Appeals Court Halts Trading Event Contracts Based on Election Outcomes

Sep 13 2024

By: Cliff C. Histed, Cheryl L. Isaac, and Wiley F. Cole

On 12 September 2024, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in KalshiEx LLC v. CFTC that designated contract markets may list event contracts whose payouts are tied to the outcome of elections. The court’s order, which granted summary judgment to KalshiEx LLC (Kalshi), held that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) interpreted its own regulations too broadly and that registered derivatives exchanges such as Kalshi may offer election outcome event contracts for trading.

United States: CFTC Releases Artificial Intelligence Report

May 09 2024

By: Matthew J. Rogers

On 2 May 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Technology Advisory Committee (Committee) released a report entitled Responsible AI in Financial Markets: Opportunities, Risks & Recommendations. The report discusses the impact and future implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on financial markets and further illustrates the CFTC’s desire to oversee the AI space.

United States: CFTC Proposes Rule to Address Margin Adequacy and Treatment of Separate Accounts by FCMs

Feb 23 2024

By: Benjamin Skillin

On 20 February 2024, the CFTC approved a proposed rule that would apply a margin adequacy requirement to all futures commission merchants (FCMs), with respect to their customers. The new requirement—titled Regulation 1.44—is designed to ensure that an FCM does not permit a customer to withdraw funds from its account if the remaining balance would be insufficient to meet the customer’s initial margin requirements.

Global: ICYMI: Integrity Council Launches Global Benchmark and Core Carbon Principles for Voluntary Carbon Markets

Aug 18 2023

By: Cheryl Isaac and Christine Mikhael

In case you missed it: late last month, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (“ICVCM”) launched its Core Carbon Principles (CCPs) and Program-level Assessment Framework (Framework). With the publication of these new standards (developed with the input of hundreds of stakeholders in the voluntary carbon markets), we now have a set of fundamental principles for high-quality credits that create a verifiable climate impact, and a framework for determining whether carbon credit programs are eligible to label themselves as being in compliance with the CCPs.

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