The type of communications that advisers are required to maintain are significantly more limited than the records required of broker-dealers. While broker-dealers are generally required to maintain all records relating to their "business," advisers are only required to maintain communications related to certain specified activities, including, however, the giving of recommendations.  

Contracts based on sports events raise a variety of difficult policy questions. From a very big picture standpoint, if sports gambling is legal, then one might reasonably argue that doing so through the medium of commodity option contracts is more economically efficient. On the other hand, do we really want the financial regulators to be spending their own resources policing whether games are being thrown?  

The underlying logic of this enforcement action seems similar to various enforcement actions that the SEC brings as to securities products, particularly mutual funds, where a broker-dealer is charged, essentially, for failing to put the investor into the best fund or class of securities of a fund.  

The CFPB is adopting policies that will apply going forward, right before a new Administration takes office. Why not just leave the approvals in a ready-to-sign state, and let the new Administration decide whether to adopt or tinker?