The Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, announced the beginning of a new phase of collaboration between the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). According to him, these two key financial regulators plan to harmonize their regulatory approaches without resorting to a formal merger that would require the approval of Congress and the President.
This is reported by Business • Media
End of the Era of Fragmentation in Financial Regulation
Atkins noted that the prolonged parallel activities of the SEC and CFTC have led to duplication of regulatory requirements, delays in processes, and a loss of innovative opportunities for the market. Now, regulators intend to coordinate their actions to enhance transparency and attractiveness of U.S. financial markets for businesses, as well as to reduce the administrative burden on companies.
“The era of regulatory fragmentation is coming to an end. It is time for harmonized, innovation-friendly oversight,” said the SEC Chair.
Joint Framework for Securities and Derivatives Markets
The SEC chief emphasized that the CFTC was established in 1974 to oversee commodity futures. However, today the boundaries between securities and derivatives have effectively disappeared, and the markets have become significantly more complex. In this regard, Atkins stressed the need to develop a unified regulatory framework that will help avoid jurisdictional conflicts between the two agencies.
Previously, Paul Atkins stated that the SEC would move away from a strict enforcement policy towards companies that have committed technical violations and would seek more flexible approaches in resolving problematic situations.