Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
The US federal regulator of futures, options and swaps markets.
Overview
The CFTC oversees derivatives markets and their participants, a remit significantly expanded by Dodd-Frank to cover most swaps. It has also asserted jurisdiction over crypto assets that are commodities and brings enforcement actions for fraud and manipulation.
Its powers include writing binding rules, supervising and examining the organisations it oversees, granting and withdrawing licences or registrations, investigating and imposing penalties and restricting activities or withdrawing permissions.
In the United States it works at federal level, alongside SEC, OCC, FinCEN and OFAC. Instruments connected to it in this glossary include Dodd-Frank.
Check the official sources below for legal scope, applicable dates and exceptions. This entry is an explanatory reference, not legal advice.
Why it matters
It can both set the rules and punish breaches of them, so its priorities shape compliance risk directly.
Who it affects
Organisations in capital markets and crypto assets in the United States.
Where it sits
Ten linked steps connect where you operate to the proof that you complied.
- 01Jurisdiction
- 02Industry
- 03Activity
- 04Authority
- 05Regulation
- 06Requirement
- 07Guidance
- 08Control
- 09Evidence
- 10Enforcement
Connections
The terms most closely tied to CFTC. Select one to open it.
What to do about it
- 1Confirm whether CFTC has power over you, and through which licence, registration, membership or activity.
- 2Follow its rules, guidance and enforcement publications as they are issued.
- 3Map each obligation it creates to a control with a named owner.
- 4Keep examination-ready evidence for its highest-risk obligations.
From requirement to evidence.
Regulation Layer tracks its publications in the change feed, maps its obligations to your controls, and links its enforcement actions to the obligations they cite.
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