After the 43‑Day Shutdown: What CFTC Market Participants and Registered Entities Should Expect

The federal government’s 43‑day shutdown — which ended with a late‑evening November 12 funding bill and next‑day return to duty for furloughed staff — imposed a near‑total pause on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC or Commission) routine functions. During the lapse, the CFTC ceased the vast majority of its operations, including most enforcement activities, market surveillance outside of essential risk monitoring, rulemaking and the production of core market reports, such as the Commitments of Traders (COT) and select swaps data. Only a minimal essential workforce remained to address true emergencies posing imminent threats to life or property. As a result, applications, staff consultations, routine oversight and ongoing initiatives were largely frozen, leaving a sizable backlog to work through as normal operations resume.

Resumption of Core Regulatory Outputs: Reports, Filings and Public Communications

With appropriations restored, the CFTC is expected to prioritize restarting its foundational market transparency outputs and clearing the docket of time‑sensitive submissions. Market participants should see the publication of delayed COT reports in chronological order until the agency is current, alongside the recommencement of swaps data series and other scheduled market surveillance updates. Filings — including registration applications, product submissions, rule certifications and exemptive or interpretive requests — will return to ordinary processing queues, but the timetables will reflect both backlogged demand and triage based on materiality and market risk. Public communications will normalize: staff no-action letters and advisories will resume, and the Commission’s press office will return to a regular cadence of releases announcing rulemakings, approvals, enforcement actions and policy milestones. Expect clustering of announcements as the agency works through items that have been left in abeyance.

Engagement and “Business as Usual”: Access to Staff, Meetings and Industry Dialogue

Normal channels for engagement with the Divisions of Market Oversight (DMO), Clearing and Risk (DCR), Enforcement (DOE), Market Participants Division (MPD) and Data (DOD) will reopen, including meetings, pre-filing conferences, interpretive discussions and supervisory examinations. Scheduling will be tight in the near term; parties with time‑sensitive issues should promptly reconfirm outstanding requests and resubmit meeting materials where necessary. 

In a recent interview, CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline Pham underscored the importance of continued dialogue, noting that she “continued to engage with industry representatives during the shutdown,” and that the Commission is “prepared to address digital asset items planned for completion by the end of the year” as staff return and “staff up to manage an expanded mission.” That stance signals a resumption of the CFTC’s open-door approach, particularly on emerging technology topics that require iterative staff feedback.

Enforcement and Supervision: Backlog Management and Priority Signals

DOE will restart investigative activities and case filings that were previously paused, while triaging matters based on threat, investor harm and procedural posture. Firms should anticipate renewed momentum on previously noticed investigations, refreshed subpoenas and document requests, and the reactivation of settlement discussions. The extended pause increases the likelihood of consolidated charging announcements as staff synchronize workstreams. Market participants should also expect supervisory examinations to reset schedules and risk‑based targeting to reflect the post‑shutdown trading environment. While the agency withheld most routine enforcement work during the lapse, that constraint will not diminish the importance of timely remediation, cooperation credit and accurate, prompt responses to staff upon reengagement.

Digital Assets and Fintech: End-of-Year Milestones and Expanded Scope

Digital asset oversight will be a focal point of the CFTC’s return to normal operations. Acting Chairman Pham has been explicit that the Commission is “prepared to address digital asset items planned for completion by the end of the year” and is prioritizing “collateral management with stablecoins and plans for spot crypto products” on regulated venues. She has also emphasized an “expanded mission,” reflecting the operational reality that data, custody, collateral and market‑integrity questions in crypto now thread through multiple divisions. She has prioritized these issues following her August 1 announcement of the Commission's  "Crypto Sprint" to implement recommendations from the President's Working Group report on digital assets.

Importantly, despite the shutdown’s disruptions across market regulators, Acting Chairman Pham indicated that she still intends to approve leveraged spot crypto trading in the U.S. in November 2025.  In October, she noted that she was targeting end-of-year milestones for crypto oversight, including listed spot crypto trading and tokenized collateral. Together, these commitments suggest that staff time will be allocated to finalizing groundwork on crypto market structure issues, enumerating conditions for listed spot products, and addressing risk management, margin and settlement implications of tokenized collateral in clearing and intermediated contexts.

Policy Agenda and Rulemaking: Re-Sequencing Without Retreat

Expect the Commission's policy docket to be re‑sequenced rather than rewritten. Items that were near completion prior to shutdown are likely to move first, followed by proposals where fresh data or stakeholder input is needed due to market developments during the lapse. Staff are likely to prioritize rulemakings or guidance that unlock operational certainty for registrants, such as clarifying expectations for digital asset custody and segregation, reporting mechanics for novel instrument types and risk-management standards where tokenized collateral or stablecoins are used in margin or settlement flows. Pham’s fintech remarks, highlighting “collateral management with stablecoins” and plans for “spot crypto products,” indicate coordination across DMO, DCR and MPD to align rule text, guidance and staff letters with practical implementation by exchanges, futures commission merchants (FCMs), swap dealers and derivatives clearing organizations.

Market Structure and Transparency: Data Normalization and Back-Testing

Reconstituting a full picture of market conditions during the shutdown will require both catch-up reporting and careful data stitching. The CFTC's market surveillance teams are expected to normalize datasets and back‑test for anomalies in position concentrations, liquidity and volatility that may have emerged without routine public signaling. Registrants should anticipate targeted data calls or clarifications as staff work to reconcile gaps in time-series continuity. For instances where surveillance dashboards dependent on reports were paused during the lapse, the CFTC may issue technical notes on any methodological adjustments and will likely emphasize vigilant monitoring of large trader positions and cross-market exposures as reports come current.

Practical Takeaways for Market Participants and Registered Entities

For derivatives exchanges and derivatives clearing organizations, we recommend promptly updating the Commission on any rule changes, product launches or emergency actions taken or contemplated during the shutdown window, and being prepared to brief appropriate staff on risk metrics that evolved without ordinary staff dialogue. 

For FCMs, swap dealers and intermediaries, review compliance calendars, remediate any deferred testing or reporting, and memorialize controls adjusted for the shutdown environment. 

For asset managers and proprietary trading firms, monitor the staged release of market reports and recalibrate models that rely on COT or swaps data. 

Across the board, reinitiate open issues with staff, reconfirm interpretive positions, and, in digital assets, track the Commission’s end‑of‑year milestones. 

As the Acting Chairman recently reiterated at a meeting in Philadelphia, the CFTC is staffing up to manage an expanded mission and continuing its push for crypto trading, while also advancing spot crypto products and tokenized collateral. That combination points to a busy close to the year, with core market plumbing restored, a heavier-than-usual wave of decisions and approvals, and a clear policy through-line on fintech and digital assets.