Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission at its open meeting today approved a final rule regarding new capital and financial reporting requirements for swap dealers (SDs) and major swap participants (MSPs). Adoption of this rule marks the completion of the CFTC’s required rulemakings under Section 731 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which was enacted 10 years ago this week.

Final Rule: Capital Requirements of Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants

On a 3-2 vote, the Commission approved a final rule imposing new capital requirements on SDs and MSPs that are not subject to supervision by a banking regulator, and imposing financial reporting requirements for SDs and MSPs generally. The final rule provides SDs with the option to elect one of three alternative methods to establish and meet minimum capital requirements, depending on the characteristics of their business:

You just realized you were scammed. That trade or investment you made was a fraud. Now what do you do?

The sooner you take action, the better you can protect yourself and help others. Getting all of your stolen money back may prove difficult, but recovery is about more than just regaining your losses. These six steps can help you guard against further theft, report the fraud, and start the recovery process. They are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal or investment advice or a comprehensive list of solutions. You can also conduct these steps on your own at little or no cost. However, if you feel you need legal help, consult an attorney.

Your first steps should focus on stopping further losses and gathering the information you have about the scheme and the perpetrators while it is still fresh. Then, report the crime as soon as possible. The sooner you report, even if you think the matter is insignificant, the easier...

The following information is designed to warn you about a type of fraud that involves individuals and firms, often unregistered, offering investments in commodity pools. In these fraudulent schemes, your money is misused (often spent on improper expenses). The pool operators advertise based on false claims of high profits and low risk.

If everything goes according to Heath Tarbert’s plan, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will soon finish implementing decade-old legislation that mandated a massive regulatory overhaul of the U.S.’s derivatives markets.

Mr. Tarbert, who was appointed chair of the CFTC last year, has made it his mission to finalize several thorny portions of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, which vastly expanded his agency’s oversight of derivatives trading. His agency has also softened several Dodd-Frank regulations that were already in effect.

Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that LabCFTC will present Empower Innovation 2020, a series of interactive virtual events throughout the fall. The three-part series will facilitate a dialogue among innovators, regulators, market participants, and the public around cutting-edge fintech innovation. In light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Empower Innovation 2020 series will be held in lieu of the 2020 Fintech Forward conference.

LabCFTC will also announce the winner of Project Streetlamp, the competition LabCFTC launched in April under the Science Prize Competition Act, at the November Empower Innovation 2020 event. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8154-20]

“Encouraging innovation and enhancing the regulatory experience for market participants is essential to what we do at the CFTC,” said CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert. “As our markets adapt in the wake of COVID-19, so too must we innovate and adapt. I am...

Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced it will award more than $1 million to two whistleblowers who voluntarily provided original information that led the Commission to bring a successful enforcement action. The CFTC opened an investigation after the first whistleblower’s information was deemed to be sufficiently specific, credible, and timely. The second whistleblower significantly contributed to the matter by providing investigative staff with first-hand information obtained through participation in the underlying scheme. 

“These awards stand as yet another indication of the significance of whistleblowers to our enforcement program,” said CFTC Director of Enforcement James McDonald. “We have seen a clear trend identifying the increasing importance of whistleblowers, and our Whistleblower Office, in our enforcement program. We expect this trend to continue as our enforcement program continues to grow.”

“As is made...

Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an order filing and settling an enforcement action against Southwest Group, LLC of Fort Myers, Florida for acting as an unregistered retail foreign exchange dealer. The order requires Southwest Group to cease and desist from further violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged, and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $75,000.

The order finds that from April 2018 through September 2018, Southwest Group, through its website, offered transactions in off-exchange foreign currency (forex) on a financed basis to retail customers located throughout the United States who were ineligible contract participants. These retail forex transactions involved Vietnamese Dong or Iraqi Dinar.

According to the order, Southwest Group offered customers forex transactions by utilizing a “Premium + Layaway Program” financing option. This “program” was financed by Southwest Group while...

You just realized you were scammed. That trade or investment you made was a fraud. Now what do you do?

The sooner you take action, the better you can protect yourself and help others. Getting all of your stolen money back may prove difficult, but recovery is about more than just regaining your losses. These six steps can help you guard against further theft, report the fraud, and start the recovery process. They are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal or investment advice or a comprehensive list of solutions. You can also conduct these steps on your own at little or no cost. However, if you feel you need legal help, consult an attorney.

Your first steps should focus on stopping further losses and gathering the information you have about the scheme and the perpetrators while it is still fresh. Then, report the crime as soon as possible. The sooner you report, even if you think the matter is insignificant, the easier...

The following information is designed to warn you about a type of fraud that involves individuals and firms, often unregistered, offering investments in commodity pools. In these fraudulent schemes, your money is misused (often spent on improper expenses). The pool operators advertise based on false claims of high profits and low risk.

The Commission relies on the public as an important source of information in carrying out its regulatory and enforcement responsibilities. If you have information about a violation of the Commodity Exchange Act or Commission regulations, you can report such violations or any other suspicious activities to our Division of Enforcement by submitting either a whistleblower Form TCR or a Complaint Form. You do not need to submit both forms, but you must submit a Form TCR to participate in the CFTC’s whistleblower program. Individuals who submit a Form TCR will receive anti-retaliation protections if applicable, and may be eligible for monetary awards of up to 30% of the money collected as a result of their information. Persons with customer complaints about a futures industry professional may also file a complaint under our Reparations Program.

Washington, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that LabCFTC will present Empower Innovation 2020, a series of interactive virtual events throughout the fall. The three-part series will facilitate a dialogue among innovators, regulators, market participants, and the public around cutting-edge fintech innovation. In light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Empower Innovation 2020 series will be held in lieu of the 2020 Fintech Forward conference.

LabCFTC will also announce the winner of Project Streetlamp, the competition LabCFTC launched in April under the Science Prize Competition Act, at the November Empower Innovation 2020 event. [See CFTC Press Release No. 8154-20]

“Encouraging innovation and enhancing the regulatory experience for market participants is essential to what we do at the CFTC,” said CFTC Chairman Heath P. Tarbert. “As our markets adapt in the wake of COVID-19, so too must we innovate and adapt. I am...

The CFTC Glossary is intended to assist the public in understanding some of the specialized words and phrases used in the futures industry since many of these terms are not found in standard reference works. The CFTC Glossary is not inclusive, and if you cannot find the term you are looking for or have any other comments, please let us know.

Definitions are not intended to state or suggest the views of the Commission concerning the legal significance or meaning of any word or term and no definition is intended to state or suggest the Commission’s views concerning any trading strategy or economic theory.

How/where are you celebrating your birthday and with whom? “I actually have quite a busy day ahead of me. In addition to being my birthday, today is the one-year anniversary since I became chairman and chief executive of the CFTC. So I have a couple of media interviews, including one with this publication. I’ll also be addressing the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Council of Presidents Meeting.”

How did you get your start in your career? “When I was in law school, I took a class on international finance law and just became hooked. Then, several years later, I was working in the White House Counsel’s Office when the 2008 financial crisis hit. That was a grueling period, but in retrospect, being part of the response to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression was a very valuable experience, and it was something I was able to draw from as the CFTC confronted historic market volatility triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.”