cftc chairman outlines new regulatory roadmap for u.s. treasury market

NEW YORK, 23 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig delivered the keynote address at the 2026 U.S. Treasury Market Conference in New York, saying the agency will reshape regulation of the market that underpins global finance.

He reminded the audience that the Treasury market funds the U.S. government, sets worldwide interest‑rate benchmarks and supplies the liquidity and collateral that keep the dollar the leading reserve currency. “The U.S. Treasury market is the envy of the world,” Selig said.

Selig highlighted the scale of growth. Global derivatives notional has nearly doubled to $1.2 quadrillion, with the CFTC overseeing roughly half of that amount. In the Treasury segment, daily futures turnover rose from about $200 billion to $900 billion, while short‑term interest‑rate futures increased from $2 trillion to $5 trillion.

He noted that the market’s structure has also changed. Open interest in short‑term Treasury futures grew from roughly $10 trillion in 2006 to more than $60 trillion today. Daily turnover in U.S. interest‑rate swaps climbed from about $300 billion in 2007 to over $2 trillion now, with overnight index swaps accounting for a large share.

“Derivatives are no longer just hedging tools; they are core to liquidity, risk transfer and price discovery,” Selig asserted, arguing that regulators must monitor futures, swaps, cash Treasuries and repo markets together.

Since rejoining the agency in December, the CFTC has taken steps to right‑size rules. Earlier this year, the commission and the SEC approved exemptive orders that let CME Group and the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation extend cross‑margining to customers holding Treasury securities and futures, reducing required collateral while keeping funds protected in a commingled account at FICC.

Selig also announced that the CFTC will amend its rulebook to permit futures commission merchants to engage in cleared repo transactions involving customer funds ahead of the SEC’s Treasury‑repo clearing deadline of June 30 2027. He said the agency expects similar cross‑margining programs from other clearing agencies.

In a joint inter‑agency effort, the CFTC and SEC issued a request for comment on harmonising portfolio‑margining frameworks, seeking to recognise economically related positions across clearing organisations and to lower duplicate margin costs.

Looking forward, Selig identified three emerging fronts: tokenisation of real‑world assets, stablecoins and 24‑hour trading. He pointed to a recent staff no‑action letter that added certain payment stablecoins to the list of eligible tokenised collateral and to a set of FAQs on their use. On continuous trading, he warned that the CFTC will apply a selective approach, with safeguards to preserve market integrity while allowing suitable asset classes to trade around the clock.

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