The Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Futures Association have reached a landmark agreement marking a new era in US financial regulatory cooperation.
On May 21, the SEC and NFA announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation, coordination, and information sharing in areas of common regulatory interest.
This represents the first time the SEC has entered into such a formal arrangement directly with the NFA, despite years of overlapping regulatory interests between the two bodies.
While the SEC has long collaborated with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which designated the NFA as the only registered futures association for the US derivatives industry, no direct framework existed until now.
The significance of this MOU lies in the nature of its parties, as unlike the CFTC, the NFA is a congressionally authorized registered futures association rather than a federal agency.
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins commented directly on the philosophy underpinning the agreement, stating: “Regulatory bodies working together should not be a novel concept. It should be the norm.”
Atkins added that “coordination between regulatory organizations provides businesses a predictable, straightforward path to compliance and comprehensive protections for investors that build trust in our markets.”
The MOU establishes a framework covering several key areas, including information sharing on market conditions, coordinated examinations, risk assessment, and robust confidentiality protections for non-public data.
Both regulators have agreed to share information regarding examinations of their respective supervised persons, as well as financial market conditions and regulatory issues that may affect entities under the other’s oversight.
On confidentiality, the MOU commits both parties to maintaining appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards, including encryption and access controls, consistent with National Institute of Standards and Technology standards.
The agreement also expressly contemplates its relationship with the March 2026 SEC-CFTC MOU, which established a framework for joint interpretations, coordinated examinations, and aligned enforcement, particularly for digital assets and emerging financial technologies.
For dually registered or affiliated firms operating across both securities and derivatives markets, the coordination frameworks could translate into fewer duplicative examinations and more predictable regulatory expectations.
NFA President and CEO Tom Sexton welcomed the agreement, saying: “We look forward to continuing our coordination efforts with the SEC under this formal framework.”
Sexton added that “this memorandum represents an important milestone for NFA and will allow us to further foster our mission of protecting customers and ensuring market integrity.”
By extending similar coordination principles to the NFA, the SEC is building a more cohesive regulatory ecosystem that spans both federal agencies and self-regulatory organisations.