The CFTC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore ("MAS") mutually recognized certain derivatives trading venues in the United States and Singapore.
At an International Futures Industry Conference, the two parties also announced several related actions. In an Order of Exemption, the CFTC granted relief to five derivatives trading facilities regulated by MAS from the requirement to register with the CFTC as swap execution facilities ("SEFs"). MAS issued regulations exempting certain CFTC-regulated SEFs from the requirement to be MAS-authorized approved exchanges or recognized market operators prior to "establishing or operating" an organized market.
CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo said that the accord will "help avoid market fragmentation, protectionism, and regulatory arbitrage." CFTC Commissioners Dan Berkovitz and Rostin Behnam concurred with the determination, stating that combining Singapore's goals for regulation of the listed Approved Exchanges and recognizing market operators within MAS's overall system of supervision and regulation can achieve an outcome "as comparable and comprehensive on a consolidated basis" as CFTC's regulations for SEFs. The two commissioners warned, however, that any determination by the CFTC should not rely solely on Singapore's "written laws and regulations," but should also consider its "system of regulation, including its approach to supervision, guidance and enforcement." To advance that goal, Commissioners Berkovitz and Behnam asked CFTC staff "to monitor whether the implementation of this regulatory regime is in fact comparable in practice."
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