The CFTC Letter follows a recent SEC no-action permitting broker-dealers to receive cash payments for research services from MiFID Managers without being subject to regulation as "investment advisers" under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. However, the CFTC Letter is broader than the SEC Letter in two important respects. First, unlike the SEC Letter, the CFTC Letter permits firms to enter into separate research payment arrangements with any client, not only MiFID Managers. This enables…

This is a significant success. CFTC Chair Giancarlo had, at once, both reached out to the Europeans in regard to the mutual acceptance of "comparable regulations" and cautioned the Europeans against imposing regulatory requirements that would disadvantage U.S. financial intermediaries. See

The SEC's Order says that the whistleblower was a former company insider who alerted the Commission to a "widespread, multi-year securities-law violation." The Order also states that there was an "unreasonable delay [by the whistleblower] in reporting the misconduct to the Commission." This suggests a disgruntled former corporate officer who may have been involved in, or at least aware of, the wrongdoing, but decided to report it after he was fired. If that is the case, it is hard to feel…

The CFPB's payday rules are of the type that sound good in theory, but may injure borrowers that the rules were meant to protect. For example, while it sounds perfectly reasonable to say that the interest rate on payday loans is too high, it is necessary for lenders to take into account the costs of making very small loans and the high potential for loss. Given these costs, a low interest rate likely makes the business unprofitable. It is reasonable to ask, therefore, whether the intent of…