Through our Commodities, Futures, Foreign Exchange (FX), and Energy Trading Interdisciplinary Practice, we provide our clients with a full range of transactional, advisory, enforcement, and litigation services in connection with the structuring, offering, and trading of futures, FX, energy, and derivative products of all types in the U.S. and abroad. Our experience in the areas of energy regulation, investment management, securities enforcement, and securities litigation enables us to collaborate with our clients to develop sophisticated and pragmatic solutions to the marketplace and regulatory issues they confront.
We are able to offer valuable insight into regulatory policies and priorities affecting these markets. Our insight is derived not only from our experience representing clients, and from our attorneys’ past positions with various regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
We work closely with the Derivatives Practice with respect to transactions involving over-the-counter (OTC) options, swaps, structured notes, and other similar instruments, and collaborate with the Energy Practice with respect to enforcement and trading issues involving energy products and pollution and other emission credits. The following are examples of the principal types of matters handled by our lawyers:
- Regulation of financial exchanges
- Regulation of financial futures and FX
- Cross-border and foreign regulatory issues
- Regulation of futures commission merchants (FCMs), broker-dealers (BDs), IAs, and funds
- Advice on FX and futures clearing operations
- Product development and regulation
- Documentation, including FCM agreements, futures give-up documentation, prime brokerage agreements, ISDA master agreements, master repurchase agreements, and securities lending agreements
- ERISA, fiduciary, and party-in-interest concerns
- Tax issues
- Litigation and enforcement (SEC, FERC, CFTC, and FINRA)
- Bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues
Morgan Lewis represents clients in all facets of the energy, financial services, and derivatives markets. Our clients include:
- Major domestic and foreign energy companies
- Public utilities
- Independent power producers and generators
- Broker-dealers
- Mutual funds
- Commodity trading advisors (CTAs)
- Pension plans
- Banks
- Venture capital funds
- Hedge funds
- Private equity firms
- Money managers
- Futures commission merchants (FCMs)
- Insurance companies
- Trade associations
Attorneys in our practice have worked in the following areas:
- Nuclear, gas, oil, petrochemicals, and electric regulation and compliance requirements
- Financing and structured transactions for nuclear and other utilities
- Futures regulation and trading issues
- U.S.-listed futures trading matters
- EU-listed futures trading matters
- Regulation of FCMs, introducing brokers, and associated persons
- FX/Forex regulatory and trading matters
- CFTC and NFA regulatory and compliance matters
- CFTC and NFA regulatory structure of U.S. regulators
- CTA, CPO, and commodity pool registration and compliance issues
- FCM documentation and compliance issues
- EU/FSA regulation and litigation
- U.S. litigation and enforcement
- Commodities/derivatives-related tax matters
For additional information about the following topics, please contact:
| Futures/FX | Georgia Bullitt |
| Formation and Regulation of Commodity Pools, CPOs, and CTAs |
Ethan W. Johnson |
| Energy Regulation and Compliance |
Mark R. Haskell |
| Litigation and Enforcement | Christian J. Mixter |