U.S. SEC Chair: Collaboration with CFTC will include joint meetings and joint inspections

Gate News reports that on March 11, U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced that the SEC and CFTC are drafting a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen coordination between the two regulators. At the FIA Global Clearing Market Conference, Atkins said the agencies are “repositioning toward a golden age of regulatory coordination,” with cooperation covering joint meetings, rule interpretations, enforcement decisions, and joint inspections of regulated entities. Atkins emphasized that companies should not be bounced back and forth when their products fall under both agencies’ regulatory frameworks, nor rely on one agency to speak first for clarity. The agencies will establish a joint meeting mechanism to handle product applications and launch a “Coordination” website for companies to request collaborative discussions with both agencies. This coordination will also extend to enforcement decisions and regulatory inspections to prevent duplicate reviews of the same entities. Atkins also reiterated the goal of paving the way for “super apps,” enabling users to conduct cross-regulatory activities within a single interface.