Back in March, I blogged about the SEC’s historic memorandum of understanding with the CFTC, which was intended to guide coordination and collaboration between the two agencies. Last month, the SEC announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the National Futures Association (NFA), which is the industrywide, self-regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry. The NFA has been designated by the CFTC as a registered futures association.

The SEC’s announcement of the MOU notes:

The MOU will enhance SEC and NFA staff’s ability to share information on matters of mutual regulatory interest such as emerging risks, examination planning, and financial markets’ conditions. The MOU will also provide for periodic meetings between staff. This improved coordination will further enhance the SEC and NFA’s ability to promote compliance with derivatives and securities laws, maintain the highest level of oversight quality, and minimize duplicative efforts.

“Regulatory bodies working together should not be a novel concept. It should be the norm. Coordination between regulatory organizations provides businesses a predictable, straightforward path to compliance and comprehensive protections for investors that build trust in our markets,” said SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins. “This memorandum is another step in furthering the SEC’s efforts to streamline cooperation with other regulatory organizations and alleviate the potential for duplicative or conflicting oversight.”

“We look forward to continuing our coordination efforts with the SEC under this formal framework,” said NFA President and CEO Thomas W. Sexton. “We believe this memorandum represents an important milestone for NFA and will allow us to further foster our mission of protecting customers and ensuring market integrity.”

– Dave Lynn