The Commodities Trading Futures Commission posted their examination priorities for 2019 this past week and included on the list was cryptocurrencies.
These priorities are for registrants of the Division of Market Oversight (DMO), Division of Swap Dealer & Intermediary Oversight (DSIO), and Division of Clearing & Risk (DCR). The CFTC said this marks the first time that the agency has published Examination Priorities for its divisions.
DMO’s Compliance Branch currently conducts examinations of designated contract markets (DCMs) to monitor their compliance with the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations through Rule Enforcement Reviews (RERs).
The CFTC states that the Compliance Branch’s RERs will focus on specific elements of DCMs’ “traditional self-regulatory programs, as well as emerging areas of self-regulation.”
DMO’s Compliance Branch’s 2019 Examination Priorities include:
- cryptocurrency surveillance practices;
- surveillance for disruptive trading;
- trade surveillance practices (selected elements);
- block trade surveillance practices;
- market surveillance practices (selected elements);
- real-time market monitoring practices;
- practices around market maker and trading incentive programs; and
- DCMs’ relationships with and services received from regulatory service providers.
The CFTC has notably been Fintech friendly including the advent of virtual currencies.
The complete list of examination priorities is available here.
