Kari Larsen, Partner in Perkins’ New York Office, talks to Cameron Prell, Head of Government Policy & Legal at Xpansiv CBL Holding Group, an environmental data and trading platform, about recent activity in the environmental commodities and derivatives markets. Kari and Cam discuss the market history, a Report titled Managing Climate Risk in the
Kari Larsen
FINRA and CFTC Staff Issue COVID-19 Advisories on Commodity-Linked ETPs and Funds
FINRA and the CFTC each issued recent advisories on commodity-linked exchange traded products. Directed at retail investors and broker-dealers, the advisories each highlighted certain issues unique to commodity-linked exchange traded products that were recently demonstrated by market reactions to fluctuating oil prices caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The advisories provided guidance on relevant considerations in…
CFTC Provides COVID-19 No-Action Relief to DCMs and SEFs
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) yesterday announced that its Division of Market Oversight (DMO) has granted temporary no-action relief to designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs).
In a related press release, CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert stated that, “These prudent, targeted, and temporary actions will help facilitate orderly trading and liquidity in our derivatives markets. The CFTC remains squarely focused on promoting their integrity, resilience, and vibrancy through sound regulation.”
This post summarizes this no-action relief.
In addition, we have prepared the attached Overview of COVID-19 Relief Provided by the CFTC to SEFs and DCMs to supplement the information presented in this post.Continue Reading CFTC Provides COVID-19 No-Action Relief to DCMs and SEFs
CFTC Staff Publish Customer Advisory on Fraudulent Schemes in Wake of Coronavirus Pandemic
On March 18, 2020, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) Office of Customer Education and Outreach (“OCEO”) published a Customer Advisory warning market participants away from potential fraudulent schemes that may arise to take advantage of market volatility related to COVID-19.
In a related Press Release, CFTC Chief Communications Officer and Director of Public Affairs Michael Short stated, “[d]uring this period of market volatility, we want to ensure the public has important information to help detect and stop fraud”.Continue Reading CFTC Staff Publish Customer Advisory on Fraudulent Schemes in Wake of Coronavirus Pandemic
CFTC Provides COVID-19 No-Action Relief to FCMs, IBs, SDs, RFEDs, FBs, and Members of DCMs and SEFs
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that its Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) has granted temporary no-action relief to futures commission merchants (FCMs), introducing brokers (IBs), swap dealers (SDs), retail foreign exchange dealers (RFEDs), floor brokers (FBs), and members of designated contract markets (DCMs) and swap execution facilities (SEFs) that are not registered with the CFTC in any capacity.
In a related press release, CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert stated that, “These prudent, targeted, and temporary actions will help facilitate orderly trading and liquidity in our derivatives markets. The CFTC remains squarely focused on promoting their integrity, resilience, and vibrancy through sound regulation.”
This post summarizes this no-action relief.
In addition, we have prepared the attached Overview of COVID-19 Relief Provided by the CFTC to supplement the information presented in this post.Continue Reading CFTC Provides COVID-19 No-Action Relief to FCMs, IBs, SDs, RFEDs, FBs, and Members of DCMs and SEFs
ISDA Publishes Guidelines for Smart Derivatives Contracts
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has published the first in a series of guidelines for what it colloquially refers to as “smart derivatives contracts” (the Guidelines).* A smart derivatives contract is a derivative that incorporates software code to automate aspects of the derivative transaction and operates on a distributed ledger, such as a blockchain. This series of papers is intended to “provide high-level guidance on the legal documentation and framework that currently governs derivatives trading, and to point out certain issues that may need to be considered by technology developers when introducing technology into that framework.”
Derivatives have long been thought to be a fitting use case for smart contract solutions. It is little surprise that derivatives industry incumbents and startups alike are working on novel smart contract solutions to facilitate the execution and clearing of derivatives. Smart derivatives contracts have the potential to create significant efficiencies in the derivatives market by automating the performance of obligations and operations under a derivatives contract. Derivatives settlement is largely reliant upon conditional logic informed by certain data points that can be made available via oracle.
Continue Reading ISDA Publishes Guidelines for Smart Derivatives Contracts