The CFTC has effectively run out the clock by preventing the offering of election-based contracts until after the upcoming elections.  

The stated basis of the CFTC's reasons for delay—a worry about market efficiency and worries about pre-execution communications—seems a stretch.  It would seem more likely that the majority of the Commissioners disfavor the listing of election contracts and, when a court found that the CFTC's determination to prohibit the listing of such…

All these fines make the SEC's enforcement numbers look good, very good. If fining firms for off-channel communications was reported as a separate business line, the ROI would be off the charts.  

The SEC still has not issued any explanation as to how it came to determine that Ether is not a security. (See .)

It is incumbent on any governmental agency to be transparent in the reasons for its decision making. The entire mission of the SEC is to enforce transparency on market participants. If the SEC is unable or unwilling to explain how it concluded that Ether was not a security, but other cryptocurrencies are, isn't the SEC failing, judged by the terms on which it…

In its report, the IAWG provides a list of significant regulatory changes that have been made or are in progress as to the US Treasury market. There is little or no empirical data to demonstrate that these changes will improve the market. Changes such as requiring firms to register as dealers or to require the central clearing of US Treasuries seem quite likely to raise costs and reduce liquidity. The financial regulators should, at a minimum, recognize that regulatory changes such as the…