CME CEO Terrence Duffy said the derivatives provider planned to sue the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) after it approved perpetual futures products earlier this month.
The CFTC’s approval of Kalshi’s perpetual futures product did not meet the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, which regulates swaps, he told CNBC on Wednesday.
“Under the Dodd-Frank Act, it clearly defines what a swap is and what a future is, and when there are two parties exchanging payments to each other, that’s considered a swap,” he said. “So if anything, these products that he allegedly approved as futures are not futures, they would be swaps, and if they are swaps, and let’s say, as you know, there are different requirements to participate in the swaps market.”
Duffy, who will step down from his role next year, said the CME would “need to understand what the rules of the road are first” before it will consider listing its own perpetual futures contracts, but that those rules are not “very clear” at this point.
