Under former CFTC Chair Gary Gensler, the CFTC essentially tried to bully the rest of the world into adopting the same rules that the United States had adopted under Dodd-Frank. This simply resulted in the rest of the world pushing back. See, e.g., , . The CFTC eventually conceded that this was not a workable strategy. .

Chair Giancarlo has to figure out a workable strategy that affirms both U.S. regulatory interests and U.S. economic interests. U.S. financial intermediaries have a…

A curious aspect of the settlement in this case is that the SEC seems to absolve the businessperson who had designed the improper trade, and who was the individual who would have received a bonus for the trade, from any consequence of the misconduct. According to the SEC narrative, this businessperson had not the slightest idea that the trade raised issues and went out of his way to raise questions with all firm personnel. Note, e.g., the SEC's statement that "[n]either SEFT Trader nor other…

Requiring the company to hold positions until expiration is a questionable penalty. Doesn't that hurt the investors in the fund? Why not at least permit unwinding transactions?

The representatives make the strongest argument they can that the "conflict mineral" disclosure requirement is providing material benefits. While they do a solid job of letter-writing in this regard, certain of the arguments in the letter are fairly far-fetched (e.g., that companies somehow are exposing themselves to reputational risk by relying on SEC guidance). The representatives also ignore, and do not attempt to refute, the finding of the U.S. Government Accountability Office that the…