CFTC Chairman Selig Authorizes First Trading of Equity Perpetual Futures on Dual-Registered Exchanges
CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig announced perpetual futures on individual equities, or Equity Perps, can now trade on dually registered CFTC-SEC exchanges. The move brings these risk-management tools into the regulated U.S. framework instead of offshore venues. It builds on the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act and resolves prior jurisdictional uncertainty.
SCCG Take — This creates a compliant domestic path for equity perpetual futures, favoring regulated operators over unregulated offshore venues under joint CFTC-SEC clarity.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has cleared perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities for trading on designated contract markets. CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig released a statement announcing these Equity Perps can begin trading for the first time on platforms dually registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as notice-registered national securities exchanges to trade security futures products.
The move brings these products into the regulated U.S. market. Selig highlighted their established role in risk management and price discovery.
Selig on Bringing Innovation Into Regulated Markets
“Today, perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities (the ‘Equity Perps’) can begin trading for the first time on CFTC-registered exchanges,” Selig said in the statement.
He continued that the expansion marks a significant step towards allowing U.S. market participants, consistent with applicable law, to avail themselves of the advantages of perpetual futures that have led to their emergence as widely sought tools for risk-management and price-discovery. Selig added that bringing these innovative products into regulated markets ensures American investors and traders can access them within the protections of the CFTC’s proven regulatory framework, rather than being forced to turn to offshore, and often unregulated, venues.
Turning the Page on Regulatory No Man’s Land
The Equity Perps build on the foundation of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and the CFTC-SEC Memorandum of Understanding. Selig noted that for too long, regulatory uncertainty left innovative products, such as security futures and equity perpetual futures, stranded in what SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins has aptly described as a regulatory ‘no man’s land’ due to a lack of harmonization between the agencies.
According to the CFTC press release, the CFTC and SEC have turned the page on that era. They are committed to delivering regulatory clarity for innovative products and a clear path to market, rather than more casualties of jurisdictional disputes. This ends the prior period of uncertainty for such products.
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