How are disparities in SEC and CFTC regulatory regimes
impacting innovation in financial markets, and what are the
regulators' plans to improve collaboration?
SEC-CFTC Joint Roundtable Discussion on Regulatory
Harmonization
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and US Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) hosted the Joint Roundtable on
Regulatory Harmonization Efforts (the Roundtable) on September 29,
2025, the first such session in nearly 15 years.
1 SEC Chairman Atkins and Acting CFTC Chairwoman
Pham explained in a joint statement that the catalyst for holding
the Roundtable was to reverse the “fragmented oversight and
legal uncertainty” that was pushing companies to pursue the
launch of novel products overseas and to reestablish America as the
“home of financial innovation.” 2 The
joint statement also outlined potential areas of focus for the
Roundtable discussion including 24/7 markets, event contracts,
perpetual contracts, portfolio margining,