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CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets?
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September 28, 2026
CFTC Opens the Door for Passive Software Providers in Derivatives Markets?
By: John Mikuta
In a new no-action letter, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) recently opened the door for software developers building software to facilitate trading in derivatives and futures. The CFTC’s Market Participants Division (“MPD”) issued a no-action position providing that it would not recommend bringing an enforcement action against a “passive software provider,” or “PSP”, for failing to register as an introducing broker (“IB”) or associated person of an IB under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”).[1] As background, the CEA requires any person who, for compensation or profit, “is engaged in soliciting and in accepting orders” for futures and swaps to register as an IB.[2] Individuals performing that work for an IB must also register themselves as associated persons.[3] The CFTC…
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
September 23, 2026
Trust the Future You Trade: Lessons About Prediction Market Surveillance from the DACOM Summit
By: John Mikuta
Prediction markets are no longer a niche offering confined to a small corner of the internet. The rapid growth of prediction markets has launched them into the mainstream as a meaningful part of the financial ecosystem. But with that growth comes many of the same market integrity and compliance challenges that more traditional financial markets have long encountered. Prediction markets have faced public scrutiny over…
High Wire Act
September 22, 2026
High Wire Act
By: James Trusty
The federal statute known as the Wire Act (18 U.S.C. § 1084) has had a tumultuous history. For many years, the DOJ interpreted it to include restrictions on both sporting events and non-sporting contests. That changed dramatically in 2011, when the Office of Legal Counsel (“OLC”), responding to states seeking clarification before establishing state lotteries, published an analysis of the Wire Act. After a thorough…
Phoenix Project: Atlantic City Can Rise From The Ashes
April 8, 2015
Phoenix Project: Atlantic City Can Rise From The Ashes
By: Ifrah Law
Most of the news from the Atlantic City Boardwalk over the last couple of years has not been promising. Several of the massive casino resort properties there have closed and/or slipped into bankruptcy, and the resale or reopening of the properties has been stalled by legal and financial hurdles. But a new plan for development of the Boardwalk hopes to take the area in a…
Recap of RAWA House Subcommittee Hearing and What It Means for iGaming
March 30, 2015
Recap of RAWA House Subcommittee Hearing and What It Means for iGaming
By: Ifrah Law
The House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations held a hearing last week to consider bill HR 707, the “Restoration of America’s Wire Act,” or RAWA. The proposed bill would prohibit most types of online gambling, whether or not they have been legalized and regulated by any state. The bill was drafted in response to 2011 Department of Justice opinion letter stating that…
Nevada Sports Books Will Be Going For The Gold During The Next Olympics
March 4, 2015
Nevada Sports Books Will Be Going For The Gold During The Next Olympics
By: Ifrah Law
It seems like, during the next Olympic Games in 2016, you will be able to bet your gold legally in Nevada on who will win the gold. Nevada gaming regulators have voted unanimously to permit the state’s sports books to accept wagers on the Olympic games for the first time in years. Nevada joins international sports books in a number of other countries that already…
Minnesota’s Lottery Quagmire: The State Legislature’s Continued Resistance to Online Lottery Ticket Sales
February 23, 2015
Minnesota’s Lottery Quagmire: The State Legislature’s Continued Resistance to Online Lottery Ticket Sales
By: Ifrah Law
As Minnesota’s lottery system turns 25 years old, director Ed Van Petten has sought to follow the lead of the most technologically-advanced state lottery systems in the country by expanding into the profitable market of online ticket sales. However, at a time when many states have enjoyed the additional revenue that online lottery sales can provide, Minnesota joins a small number of states that have…
Daily Fantasy Sports and the Start of Class Action Season
January 7, 2015
Daily Fantasy Sports and the Start of Class Action Season
By: Ifrah Law
While billions of dollars of sports betting continues in the shadowy world of illegal off-shore sports books, the fantasy sports business has been on fire. And as fantasy sports becomes the new hot “thing” online, it has continued to evolve: Dozens of companies are entering the market to offer everything thing from the increasingly common single day fantasy contests to the stock market-like contest offered…
