Derivatives & Commodities

Overview

Stradley Ronon’s derivatives and commodities practice group is an integrated, multidisciplinary team that advises asset managers, collective investment vehicles and other institutional market participants on the evolving regulatory landscape for transactions in derivatives resulting from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the Dodd-Frank Act) in the United States and similar regulatory initiatives abroad. We assist our clients in navigating the emerging global regulatory regimes that affect derivatives trading and staying abreast of developments. This involves drawing on our experience with derivatives regulations established by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as providing advice from a cross-border perspective by incorporating consideration of the emerging derivatives regimes in the EU (EMIR), Canada and other non-U.S. jurisdictions.

OUR Highly Experienced Team
We have extensive experience in structuring and negotiating documentation for both over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives transactions. We focus in particular on helping clients develop and implement the infrastructure necessary for derivatives trading in the post Dodd-Frank markets, including establishing new relationships, and assisting with the documentation necessary for centrally cleared swaps and trading on swap execution facilities (SEFs). 

We also assist with developing policies and procedures for operating in new markets and under new regulations. These include establishing onboarding procedures such as protocols for determining the regulatory status of parties to derivatives transactions as eligible contract participants (ECPs) and U.S. persons under CFTC regulations; special aggregation and “block trade” procedures appropriate for swaps and other non-securities transactions; and procedures for keeping pace with new record-keeping, reporting and disclosure requirements. 

Our derivatives and commodities attorneys routinely counsel clients on their status and regulatory obligations as commodity pool operators (CPO) and commodity trading advisors (CTA) under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and related regulations of the CFTC and National Futures Association (NFA), as well as on available exemptions from CPO and CTA regulation. We have particular experience assisting SEC and FINRA regulated entities in structuring their businesses and derivatives transactions, and related compliance programs, to address dual regulation by the SEC and FINRA, on the one hand, and the CFTC and NFA, on the other hand, and, to the extent possible, we help them minimize the impact of multiple regulators.

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