Insights
April 7-8, 2026Partners Sam Hu and Tobias Moon are attending.
-
On March 5, 2026, the Oregon legislature passed House Bill 4116 (“HB 4116”) providing for an opt-out of federal law applicable to state banks allowing them to export the interest rates and fees of their home state to other states for loans “made” in Oregon. The action follows the recent Tenth Circuit decision related to the Colorado legislature’s opt-out legislation. The law does not affect national banks. Where a loan is made remains uncertain in light of the Tenth Circuit decision.
-
On February 25, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “NPR”) to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act (the “GENIUS Act”), setting out proposed regulations for the issuance of and activities related to payment stablecoins by entities under the OCC’s jurisdiction. The NPR covers areas of required rulemaking by the OCC under the GENIUS Act and seeks comments on over 200 questions during a 60-day comment window ending on May 1, 2026. Each area of the NPR warrants in-depth analysis, but we highlight key provisions and encourage submission of comments to the OCC to address areas of strategic importance.
Chapman partners Juan Arciniegas, Curtis Doty, Peter Hong, and Morrison Warren co-authored an article published by Thomson Reuters / Practical Law, providing essential guidance on the rapidly evolving landscape of cryptocurrency. As digital assets continue their march into mainstream finance, a new generation of investment products is reshaping how institutions and individuals gain exposure. Navigating this space requires understanding critical distinctions that carry real consequences for performance, costs, and compliance.
The Connecticut Property Transfer Act (CPTA) is set to sunset on March 1, 2026. It will be replaced by Release-Based Cleanup Regulations (RBCRs).
On February 17, 2026, the CFTC filed an amicus brief in North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. et al v. The State of Nevada on relation of the Nevada Gaming Control Board et al., asserting its exclusive jurisdiction over event contract markets (a.k.a., prediction markets).
-
Last week, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rescinded its long-standing Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and subsequent federal greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks. The rescission lifts existing obligations on automobile manufacturers with respect to the measurement, control, and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. It does not explicitly change greenhouse gas emission requirements applicable to other regulated sources such as power plants and oil and gas facilities. However, the rescission establishes a basis for rescinding greenhouse gas emission standards from such sources at a future date.
-
In a decision with significant implications for any non-lawyer who uses artificial intelligence tools to research or analyze legal matters, Judge Rakoff of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in United States of America v. Heppner, 25-cr-00503-JSR, ruled on February 10, 2026 that documents generated through a public AI platform were not protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. Specifically, the Court granted the Government's motion to access documents that defendant Bradley Heppner created using the AI tool Claude before his arrest on federal fraud charges.
-
On January 28, 2026, the SEC Staff (the “Staff”) from the Division of Corporation Finance, the Division of Investment Management, and the Division of Trading and Markets issued a joint statement on tokenized securities. The statement builds upon and expands Commissioner Peirce’s July 2025 remarks, “Enchanting, but Not Magical,” emphasizing that innovations in tokenization should be approached as a process of regulated evolution. The statement provides the Staff’s views on tokenized versions of securities that are issued as crypto-assets and recorded on a distributed ledger technology (DLT), such as a blockchain network.
- Topic: CFTC
14 matches.
On December 8, 2025, the Market Participants Division, Division of Market Oversight, and Division of Clearing and Risk (collectively, “Divisions”) of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued guidance on the use of tokenized assets as collateral in the trading of futures and swaps. The Guidance follows a September 2025 request for comment on the use of tokenized collateral in derivatives markets, including on the recommendations made in a November 2024 report of the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee (“GMAC”).
Consistent with the GMAC’s recommendations, the Guidance acknowledges that CFTC regulations do not require any particular technology or operational infrastructure to transfer or hold eligible collateral, stating instead that “assets retain their margin eligibility so long as they satisfy applicable regulatory requirements”. The Guidance largely reiterates existing regulations without adding tokenization-specific standards. Nonetheless, the Guidance is significant because it reflects the Divisions’ concurrence with the GMAC’s conclusion that no changes to CFTC regulations are needed, and it identifies areas where
risk-focused analysis is expected.This bulletin highlights certain key points in the Guidance, focusing on issues raised by the unique attributes of tokenization and considerations relevant to swap dealers subject to CFTC uncleared margin regulations.
The US derivatives markets are renowned for their depth and innovation, drawing participants from across the globe. These markets have a long‑established history of trading futures contracts on US Treasury securities, US and non‑US stock indexes, and physical commodities, as well as listed options on these instruments. In recent years, new types of contracts based on novel asset classes and indices have emerged. Examples of these new asset classes include cryptocurrencies, volatility, environmental attributes, and macroeconomic indicators. In addition to listed contracts, over‑the‑counter (OTC) derivatives may be executed bilaterally and either submitted for clearing or maintained as bilateral transactions if they are not subject to mandatory clearing requirements.
There have been several recent notable enforcement actions, including continued enforcement by the SEC and CFTC against off-channel communications, as well as an SEC fraud settlement with Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust.
On September 12, 2024, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) adopted amendments to CFTC Regulation 4.7 (Reg. 4.7), a rule that provides exemptions from the broader compliance requirements under Part 4 of the CFTC regulations (Part 4) for registered commodity pool operators (CPOs) with respect to pools (4.7 pools) offered solely to “Qualified Eligible Persons” (QEPs) and registered commodity trading advisors (CTAs) that advise or manage commodity trading accounts of QEPs. The amendments (i) increase the financial thresholds in the “Portfolio Requirement” of the QEP definition and (ii) permit CPOs of fund of fund pools offered solely to QEPs to provide monthly account statements within 45 days of the month-end, rather than providing quarterly account statements within 30 days of the quarter-end. The CFTC chose not to adopt, at this time, the proposed minimum QEP disclosures.
On April 19, the House Financial Services Committee posted a “discussion draft” of a revised version of the CHOICE Act. The discussion draft contains most of the provisions in last year’s bill with a number of important changes.
- February/March 2017Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law
With Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress and Donald Trump elected President, the prospects for financial regulatory reform have changed. Many observers point to the Financial CHOICE Act as the best indication of Republican Congressional aspirations for such reform.
- Client Alert
The National Futures Association recently submitted an interpretive notice proposal to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that would require NFA members to establish information systems security programs.
- Client Alert
The staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently issued relief for certain exempt commodity pool operators that permits general solicitation and general advertising in connection with offerings of commodity pools.
- Client Alert
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently adopted final rules regarding compliance obligations for commodity pool operators of investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
- Client Alert
In 2012 the Commodity Futures Trading Commission significantly narrowed the CFTC Rule 4.5 exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator available to operators of investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
- Chapman Clint Alert
By letter dated December 7, 2012, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released interpretive guidance significantly expanding the scope of its October 11, 2012 interpretive letter. The October 11 Letter confirmed that securitization vehicles that satisfy five criteria, including a requirement that they operate consistent with either Regulation AB or Rule 3a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, should not be “commodity pools” as a result of holding a swap nor should their operators be required to register as “commodity pool operators” under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules.
- Client Alert
By letter dated October 11, 2012, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission 1 released interpretive guidance confirming that certain securitization vehicles should not be included within the definition of “commodity pool” and that operators of such vehicles should not be included within the definition of “commodity pool operator” under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules. Separately, in a no-action letter dated October 11, 2012, the Division conditionally extended the deadline for registration as a commodity pool operator from October 12, 2012 to December 31, 2012 for vehicles that are commodity pools solely by virtue of their involvement with swaps.
- Client Alert
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) recently issued final rule changes:
• narrowing the exclusion from the definition of commodity pool operator (“CPO”) available to mutual funds and other registered investment companies (“RICs”) and their advisers;
• eliminating an exemption from CPO registration available to private fund operators (but keeping another exemption that had also been proposed to be eliminated);
• narrowing and rescinding certain exemptions from commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) registration;
• adding certain risk disclosure statements for CPOs and CTAs with respect to swaps; and
• making certain changes to reporting and certification obligations for entities required to register as CPOs and
• CTAs and entities relying on exclusions and exemptions from registration.
- Client Alert
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently proposed rules and guidelines that would require certain entities to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program that is designed to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft in connection with certain existing accounts or the opening of new accounts.
