On April 22, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a public notice jointly released by the Market Oversight, Clearing and Risk, and Market Participants departments to comprehensively assess potential application scenarios, advantages, and risks of implementing 24/7 (round-the-clock) trading mode in derivatives markets under its supervision. CFTC Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham stated: "CFTC must address market structural changes with a forward-looking perspective, ensuring market vitality and resilience while safeguarding the rights of all participants. Currently, markets are emerging with trends toward expanding trading hours to 24/7, 24/6, or 24/5, and we look forward to receiving comments and suggestions on this innovation."
The key points of the opinion solicitation include: the differentiated impacts of extending CFTC-regulated derivatives markets to round-the-clock trading on trading clearing and risk management systems, potential risks in market integrity, customer protection, and retail trading arising from 24/7 trading mode, and challenges faced by supporting clearing systems in a continuous operational environment.
