According to the announcement from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the departments of Market Oversight, Clearing and Risk, and Market Participants jointly issued a 'Request for Comments' 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 of expanding to 24/7, 24/6, or 24/5 trading periods, and we look forward to receiving comments and suggestions on this innovation."
The key points of the comment solicitation include: the differentiated impacts of expanding 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 clearing systems in a continuous operating environment.
