SEC and CFTC Announce Historic Cooperation Agreement Between the Two Agencies
To Be Published Soon
2026-26
Washington D.C., March 11, 2026
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to guide coordination and collaboration between the two agencies to support legitimate innovation, maintain market integrity, and ensure the protection of investors and customers. This MOU reflects the commitment of both agencies to provide fair notice to market participants, respect individual freedoms, and promote legitimate innovation with minimal effective regulatory oversight to enhance the competitiveness of the United States in the financial sector.
“For decades, regulatory authority disputes, dual registrations among agencies, and regulatory differences between the SEC and CFTC have hindered innovation and pushed market participants to other jurisdictions,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “This updated Memorandum of Understanding will serve as a roadmap for a new era of harmonization between the two agencies — a crucial aspect to support U.S. leadership in a new chapter of financial innovation. By aligning regulatory definitions, coordinating oversight, and facilitating seamless and secure data sharing among agencies, we will ensure our rules and regulations provide the clarity that market participants deserve.”
“The U.S. financial markets are the envy of the world because they can scale and adapt to meet investor demand. Like our markets, the regulatory frameworks of the CFTC and SEC must also evolve and modernize to accommodate the needs of our market participants,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig. “This Cooperation Agreement strengthens the agencies' commitment to align the regulatory framework to provide comprehensive and seamless oversight of the financial markets. By working together, we will eliminate overlapping and burdensome rules and close regulatory gaps in the interest of all Americans and usher in a golden era for American finance.”
Along with the MOU, the agencies are establishing a Joint Harmonization Initiative to promote coordinated oversight and enhance regulatory clarity in areas of mutual regulatory interest. This initiative will support coordination across the policy-making functions, inspections, and law enforcement of each agency, particularly for joint applications and collaborative policy efforts, including:
Clarifying product definitions through joint interpretation and rulemaking.
Modernizing the clearing, margin, and collateral framework.
Reducing barriers for exchanges, trading platforms, and dual-registered intermediaries.
Providing an appropriate regulatory framework for crypto assets and other new technologies.
Facilitating regulatory reporting for trade data, funds, and intermediaries.
Coordinating cross-market inspections, economic analysis, risk monitoring, oversight, and law enforcement.
The Joint Harmonization Initiative will be co-led by Robert Teply (SEC) and Meghan Tente (CFTC).
This announcement follows previous efforts to harmonize the regulatory framework of these institutions, which is further explained on the SEC website and CFTC website. Public input is greatly encouraged and can be submitted through a written input form or
request for a meeting.
