Us Sec, Cftc Operations Set To Resume After 43-day Government Shutdown
According to the agencies’ operations plans, staff are expected to return to work the day after the “enactment of appropriations legislation,” which occurred late on Wednesday.
Employees who were furloughed during the US government shutdown are expected to return to work at the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission after 43 days away.
According to the operations plans with the SEC and CFTC, staff are expected to return on Thursday, following US President Donald Trump’s signing of a funding bill late on Wednesday to resume federal operations.
The two agencies’ respective plans require employees to come in on the “next regularly scheduled workday [...] following enactment of appropriations legislation,” which acting CFTC chair Caroline Pham appeared to confirm in a Thursday X post.
Amid the government shutdown, both agencies had fewer staff and reduced operations. In the SEC’s case, this limited its ability to review applications for exchange-traded funds, including those tied to cryptocurrencies. The CFTC’s plan said it would “cease the vast bulk of its operations,” including enforcement, market oversight and work on regulatory rulemaking.
With the reopening of the government, however, the SEC and CFTC may need some time to catch up on activities, such as reviewing registration applications submitted in the previous 43 days. Some companies submitted IPO and ETF applications amid reports that the shutdown would likely end soon.
“I’m sure some [companies] took the position that they could just submit [an application to the SEC] knowing it’s not going to be looked at until they get back, but at least they’re in the queue,” Jay Dubow, a partner at law firm Troutman Pepper Locke, told Cointelegraph.
He also warned of the possible ramifications of the SEC going through repeated shutdowns:
Related: Last US penny minted shows why savers need Bitcoin
During the shutdown, officials with both financial regulators regularly spoke at conferences on their approach to cryptocurrencies, sometimes commenting on their availability and addressing the reduced operations.
Source: CoinTelegraph
