On March 11, the CFTC and SEC announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to guide coordination and collaboration between the agencies, with the stated goal of supporting lawful innovation, upholding market integrity, and ensuring investor and customer protection. In conjunction with the MOU, the agencies also established a “Joint Harmonization Initiative” to advance coordinated oversight and promote regulatory clarity in areas of common regulatory interest, such as: (i) clarifying product definitions; (ii) modernizing clearing, margin and collateral frameworks; (iii) reducing frictions for dually registered exchanges, trading venues, and intermediaries; (iv) providing a regulatory framework for digital assets and other emerging technologies; (v) streamlining regulatory reporting for trade data, funds and intermediaries; and (vi) coordinating examinations, economic analyses, risk monitoring, surveillance and enforcement. The agencies affirmed their commitment to respecting statutory mandates and maintaining independent authority, while rejecting a “turf war” mentality and seeking regulatory efficiency, clarity, and fair notice for market participants.

According to the corresponding fact sheet, the MOU outlines specific procedures for coordination between the agencies — including regular meetings, data sharing, ongoing notifications, and cross-training staff — to improve regulatory effectiveness and reduce duplicative processes. The MOU also outlines confidentiality protections for shared non-public information and sets forth procedures to avoid duplicative examinations, promote consistent enforcement outcomes, and work toward interoperability in economic analysis and risk monitoring.