Securities Regulation Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other litigation, regulatory activity, and industry news, (Dec 12, 2025)

By WK Editorial Staff

A weekly roundup of other items of interest to the securities, commodities, and corporate governance communities.

CFTC NEWS—Acting Chairman Caroline Pham announced participants in the CFTC’s new CEO Innovation Council, which will engage in public discussion of market structure developments in derivatives markets. Representing exchanges, the first announced participants are: Shayne Coplan (CEO, Polymarket), Craig Donohue (CEO, Cboe Global Markets), Terry Duffy (Chairman and CEO, CME Group), Tom Farley (CEO, Bullish), Adena Friedman (Chair and CEO, Nasdaq), Luke Hoersten (CEO, Bitnomial), Tarek Mansour (CEO, Kalshi), Kris Marszalek (CEO, Crypto.com), David Schwimmer (CEO, LSEG), Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO, Kraken, Jeff Sprecher (CEO, Intercontinental Exchange), and Tyler Winklevoss (CEO, Gemini).

BLOCKCHAIN—Acting Chairman Caroline Pham announced that the CFTC has withdrawn “outdated” guidance related to actual delivery of “virtual currencies,” as of December 10, 2025, given the substantial developments in crypto asset markets. The guidance, titled “Retail Commodity Transactions Involving Certain Digital Assets,” was published on June 24, 2020, 85 FR 37734 (June 24, 2020). The guidance was issued to inform the public of the Commission’s views when determining whether actual delivery has occurred in the context of retail commodity transactions in certain types of digital assets that serve as a medium of exchange, colloquially known as ‘‘virtual currencies.” The Commission determined that the guidance was “likely outdated” and may conflict with the ongoing work of the Commission necessary to implement the President’s Working Group’s recommendations. The CFTC will consider whether updated guidance or FAQs are appropriate and encourages the public to engage with feedback via the CFTC’s Crypto Sprint.

DERIVATIVES—The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight and the Division of Clearing and Risk issued no-action letters regarding swap data reporting and recordkeeping for binary options transacted by certain registered entities. The letters included: Letter No. 25-44 (Gemini Titan LLC, cleared by QC Clearing LLC d/b/a Polymarket Clearing); Letter No. 25-45 (LedgerX LLC d/b/a MIAX Derivatives Exchange LLC); Letter No. 25-47 (Aristotle Exchange DCM, Inc. and Aristotle Exchange DCO); and Letter No. 25-48 (QCX LLC, d/b/a Polymarket US, and QC Clearing LLC, d/b/a Polymarket Clearing (collectively,“Polymarket”).

DERIVATIVES—The CFTC issued a no-action letter to harmonize three separate definitions of “U.S. person,” among other things, under the CFTC’s Dodd-Frank Act cross-border swap framework. The CFTC said that Letter No. 25-42, issued December 9 by the Market Participants Division, Division of Clearing and Risk, and Division of Market Oversight, simplifies and consolidate existing no-action positions addressing almost 15 years of regulatory uncertainty and promotes harmonization with SEC regulations.

DERIVATIVES—The CFTC is seeking comment on a proposed order that would expand cross-margining for certain exchange customers. The proposed order would provide a limited exemption to allow the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) to make their existing cross-margining arrangement available to certain customers with appropriate safeguards. It would permit joint clearing members of CME and FICC that are dually registered as broker-dealers and futures commission merchants (BD-FCMs) to hold futures customer funds in a commingled customer account at FICC. The comment period will be open for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

DERIVATIVES—The CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight issued a no-action letter regarding reporting of swap data error corrections under Part 43 and Part 45 of the CFTC’s regulations. Letter No. 25-43, issued December 11, provides no-action relief relating to reporting of certain data requirements relating to “dead swaps” and “open swaps.” The letter expresses a staff position only with respect to enforcement of the Error Correction Rules.

CFTC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The CFTC is accelerating the publication of its Commitments of Traders reports, which were interrupted during the lapse in federal appropriation this fall. The revised timeline will eliminate the report backlog by Dec. 29, 2025. The CFTC previously projected the data would be current by January 23, 2026. The reports will continue to be published in chronological order at an increased frequency while maintaining data integrity. This process is consistent with prior post-shutdown publishing. Check CFTC.gov for the most up-to-date information.

FORMS AND FILINGS—The SEC adopted technical amendments to various Exchange Act forms to correct the address for the principal office of the Commission. The changes affect Forms 1, 1-N, R31, ATS, ATS-R, and PILOT. In each case, the forms are amended to remove the text “450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20549-1002” and add, in its place, the text “100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549”.

SEC NEWS—The SEC announced the agenda and panelists for its December 16 roundtable on Rule 611 of Regulation NMS and other associated rules and regulatory requirements. The roundtable will be webcast and held in person at the University of Austin’s campus at the Scarbrough Building, located at 522 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas.

SEC NEWS AND SPEECHES—The SEC announced that Lori J. Schock, who has served as the Director of the Office of Investor Education and Assistance (OIEA) since 2009, will retire from the agency at the end of December. Schock joined the SEC in 2001 as a Staff Attorney in OIEA. She also served as Special Counsel to the Director from 2002-2006 and as Acting Director and Deputy Director from 2006-2007. The SEC’s release said Schock has enhanced OIEA’s role in improving financial literacy and has increased the SEC’s investor education outreach and assistance efforts.

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