SEC and CFTC push for closer coordination
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently held a joint roundtable to discuss opportunities for closer regulatory harmonisation. Commissioners and market participants examined how the agencies might reduce duplication while ensuring strong investor protection and effective market oversight.
Commissioner Hester Peirce underlined the difficulties created by overlapping rules and blurred jurisdictional boundaries, urging more consistent approaches to avoid uncertainty for market participants.
Commissioner Mark Uyeda pointed to “regulatory disruption” that can occur when innovations such as cryptoassets or decentralised finance cut across traditional regulatory lines, while Chairman Paul Atkins called for closer collaboration to reduce fragmentation.
Issues highlighted for joint attention included crypto regulation, swaps oversight, portfolio margining, and other areas where the two agencies’ responsibilities overlap. Harmonisation in these areas could reduce compliance costs, close regulatory gaps and build a more coherent framework for fast-moving markets. For digital reporting too, coordinated approaches between regulators are critical to ensure that structured data requirements remain consistent and comparable.
Readers can find the full statements from the Comissioners on the SEC website.
