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MFA Submits Letters to CFTC in Connection with Roundtable on Regulation AT

On June 24, MFA submitted an individual letter and a joint letter with other associations to the CFTC as part of its re-opened comment period in connection with the June 10 CFTC Roundtable on certain elements of Regulation AT.

The MFA letter, in response to the CFTC Roundtable:

  • Urged the CFTC to address marketplace risk through marketplace risk controls (including pre-trade and other risk controls)—both at the designated contract market (“DCM”) and through the futures commission merchant (“FCM”) providing trading access.  In addition, MFA supported a regulatory framework where a market participant could choose to implement the Commission’s required marketplace risk controls in lieu of going through an FCM’s risk controls, and be subject to Commission oversight.
  • Reiterated our concern that it would be unfeasible for CPOs and CTAs to comply with Regulation AT’s proposals regarding development, monitoring and compliance with respect to third party algorithms.
  • Urged the CFTC to consider adopting a principles-based source code retention requirement and to abandon its proposed source code repository requirement, which would have provided regulators with unfettered access to a registrant’s proprietary source code.
  • Urged the CFTC to address standards for the development, monitoring and compliance of algorithmic trading systems in a later stage rulemaking, after further roundtable discussions on current practices.

In addition, MFA also co-signed and submitted a Joint Letter with FIA, FIA PTG, ISDA and SIFMA AMG on Regulation AT.  The Joint Letter provided additional details on questions raised at the CFTC Roundtable and on registration.

For a copy of MFA’s letter, please click here. The joint letter is available here.