U.S. CFTC rescinds its settlement-acceptance policy — ending the approach that made it harder to deny allegations after settling (June 2026)
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) rescinded a policy, contained in an appendix to its regulations, on accepting settlements in administrative and civil proceedings. The policy was commonly understood to limit a respondent's or defendant's ability to deny the allegations after settling.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeRule
- AgencyCommodity Futures Trading Commission
- Citation91 FR 34570
Key points
- CFTC rescinded its policy on accepting settlements in administrative and civil proceedings
- The policy was understood as a "no-deny" approach limiting a settling party's ability to deny allegations
- CFTC = the U.S. financial regulator overseeing derivatives markets (also known for crypto-asset enforcement)
- Reflects a change in the regulator's enforcement approach
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) finalized a rule rescinding a policy, contained in an appendix to its regulations, on accepting settlements in administrative and civil proceedings (a rule, June 8, 2026).
The policy has been commonly understood as a "no-deny" approach: it limits the ability of a respondent or defendant who has settled with the CFTC to publicly deny the allegations afterward. In U.S. securities and commodity regulation, parties customarily "neither admit nor deny" the allegations when settling; some agencies reinforced this by reserving the right to reopen a settlement if the party later publicly denied the allegations. This rule rescinds that policy at the CFTC.
The CFTC is the U.S. financial regulator that oversees derivatives (futures, swaps) markets, and is also known for enforcement involving crypto-assets. This change concerns its enforcement approach and touches on debates about the relationship between regulators and the regulated, and the transparency of settlements.
This article organizes the facts of the rule and does not evaluate its merits.
Why it matters
An example of a change in a financial regulator's (CFTC's) enforcement approach. For readers in financial regulation, compliance, and enforcement, a useful read on the direction of U.S. regulatory practice.
FAQ
What is the CFTC?
What is the "no-deny" approach?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.