Key takeaways

• The CFTC and the SEC have recently taken the following actions regarding the regulation of swaps and security-based swaps.
• The CFTC has adopted a final rule expanding the existing clearing requirement by adding new currencies to the categories of interest rate swaps required to be cleared under the CFTC’s original clearing determination issued in 2012.
• The CFTC has issued an order establishing December 31, 2018 as the new phase-in termination date for the swap dealer registration de minimis threshold.
• The CFTC has issued a supplemental proposal to its existing proposed Regulation Automated Trading ("Regulation AT"), amending and streamlining some of the requirements from the original proposal.
• The SEC  has adopted final rules establishing enhanced standards for SEC-registered securities clearing agencies that are either designated as systemically important or are involved in complex activities, such as clearing security-based swaps, and has issued proposed rules to apply these enhanced standards to other categories of registered clearing agencies.
• The SEC has issued an order instituting cease-and-desist proceedings against Forcerank LLC, a New York-based company, for failure to file a registration statement for its offering to retail investors of mobile phone games described as “fantasy sports for stocks," which the SEC determined constitute security-based swaps.