For as long as I have been practicing securities law, there has been talk about combining the SEC and CFTC into one agency or, short of that, finding ways for the two agencies to work together in harmony. At the beginning of the first Trump Administration, a potential combination of the two agencies was considered, but those plans never materialized. This time around, the focus is on harmonization of the regulatory frameworks of the two agencies, as Meredith noted back in September 2025.

In a speech earlier this week at the FIA Global Cleared Markets Conference (which focuses on derivatives), Chairman Atkins provided an update on the regulatory harmonization efforts of the SEC and the CFTC, which he described as an “approach toward a new golden age of regulatory coherence.” He described the role that substituted compliance can play under a principle that “where one agency’s framework achieves comparable regulatory outcomes, then it should be capable of satisfying overlapping requirements of the other,” and noted coordinated efforts on questions of interpretation and exemptive relief, including joint meetings on product applications and efforts to foster innovation.

Chairman Atkins noted that the SEC and CFTC are also “considering an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agencies to guide coordination and collaboration that can support innovation, uphold market integrity, and ensure investor and consumer protection.” He also described efforts to coordinate legal theories and remedial strategies from an enforcement perspective.

On the topic of swap and securities-based swap data, Chairman Atkins indicated that he has asked the Staff to consider any necessary amendments to Regulation SBSR (the securities-based swap reporting regime) with the goal of codifying a harmonized reporting regime with the CFTC. The Chairman ended his remarks with these thoughts:

The SEC and the CFTC operate under distinct statutes entrusted to us by Congress, and we must administer those mandates faithfully. But fulfilling our responsibility does not require fragmentation; in fact, it calls for coordination. Properly executed, harmonization furthers our statutory mission through a commitment to coherence across markets that increasingly function as an integrated whole. We can do better—and we intend to.

The United States leads global derivatives markets because our regulatory system is credible. Credibility rests on more than rules alone. It rests on clarity. On consistency. And on a widely held confidence that regulators coordinate intelligently in lieu of competing in turf wars that offer no benefit to investors.

The SEC maintains a page on its website dedicated to the SEC-CFTC Harmonization Initiative.

– Dave Lynn