The need for regulatory simplification and a growing trend of product and technology innovation were among the topics discussed during a panel on challenges and opportunities in the European derivatives markets at the FIA Paris Forum on 25 September.
A perpetual, or perp in industry speak, has no stated expiry date, allowing a party to hold a position until offsetting it to terminate the exposure. They are cash settled trades that provide leveraged exposure to the spot price of an asset, as opposed to providing exposure to a price in the future.
The Joint Trades recommend essential revisions of the Basel banking prudential treatment of cryptoassets and pausing implementation of SCO60 ahead of its January 2026 effective date to allow for a targeted consultation and redesign. The letter highlights the excessively conservative and overly punitive capital treatment of cryptoassets that is misaligned with actual risks, in addition to various inconsistencies with current market risk management practices.
FIA has responded to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s spot crypto listing initiative, which invites stakeholders to work with the Commission “on providing regulatory clarity on how to list spot crypto asset contracts on CFTC-regulated designated contract markets” using the Commission’s “existing authority” under the Commodity Exchange Act.
The Senate Banking Committee published its version of proposed legislation on market structure and digital assets and issued a request for information. FIA has responded with its views, including commentary on the role of the CFTC, the importance of market intermediaries, and other topics.
The digital asset industry deserves and requires a proper regulatory framework that will keep these markets safe, innovative and growing. The US has an opportunity to lead in the global development of digital assets, but Congress must act quickly. Without this leadership, these markets will continue to expand overseas and outside of the reach of US influence.
Responding to the European Commission’s consultation on capital markets integration, FIA calls for simplification and burden reduction, makes recommendations on post-trading issues, distributed ledger technology and asset tokenisation, and adds to the debate on supervision.
The white paper states that the cleared derivatives industry is at an "inflection point" in the adoption of tokenisation and notes that several clearinghouses are exploring use cases for this technology.
FIA does not support extending trading and clearing in CFTC-regulated derivatives markets to a 24/7 basis until such issues have been systematically identified, assessed, and resolved pursuant to public comment and informed public agency action.
