Series 3: Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Registration, Regulation, and Disciplinary Procedures

In Chapter One we described the creation in 1974 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The CFTC is an independent agency of the federal government authorized to oversee and regulate the derivatives markets, including commodities futures, options on futures, swaps, and certain over-the-counter forex transactions.

The same act that authorized the CFTC also authorized the creation of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) under the CFTC’s oversight. A self-regulatory organization is a non-governmental organization in which its membership has significant authority to regulate itself. The