US SEC, CFTC announce memorandum of understanding

WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that they had entered into a memorandum of understanding to guide coordination between the two agencies, according to a statement.

• The MOU establishes a Joint Harmonization Initiative, aimed at improving collaboration on oversight and rulemaking efforts

• “For decades, regulatory turf wars, duplicative agency registrations, and different sets of regulations between the SEC and CFTC have stifled innovation and pushed market participants to other jurisdictions,” SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said in a statement.

• The initiative will seek to reduce frictions for dually registered exchanges, streamline regulatory reporting and coordinate cross-market analyses, among other aims.

• The Joint Harmonization Initiative will be co-led by CFTC's Meghan Tente and the SEC's Robert Teply.