SIFMA Urges Broad Regulatory Review of Equity Perpetuals Before Launch

Washington, D.C., November 3, 2026 – SIFMA filed a comment letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on rule filings by four designated contract markets (DCMs) to list and trade perpetual futures contracts on individual equity securities (“Equity Perpetuals”) as security futures.

In the letter, SIFMA notes that Equity Perpetuals, which have no expiration date, differ meaningfully from the traditional single stock futures the security futures framework was designed for. SIFMA asks the SEC and CFTC to use their existing statutory tools to allow a broader review with public input before these products launch.

Specifically, the letter asks the Commissions to:

• Assess potential impacts on the underlying equity markets, including liquidity, price discovery, capital formation, investor protection, and cross-market manipulation risk in a nearly continuous trading environment.
• Resolve whether Equity Perpetuals should be classified as security futures, swaps, or security-based swaps, consistent with questions the agencies raised in their joint request for comment earlier this year.
• Rely on the CFTC’s authority to stay the filings, or the SEC’s authority to abrogate them and require refiling under Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act, which provides for public notice and comment.

“Equity Perpetuals raise important questions about how these products would interact with the U.S. equity markets that investors and issuers rely on,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO. “We encourage the SEC and CFTC to work through those questions together, with the benefit of public comment, before these products are offered to investors.”

The full comment letter is available at https://www.sifma.org/advocacy/letters/proposed-listing-and-trading-of-equity-perpetual-contracts

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SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business policy affecting retail and institutional investors, equity and fixed income markets and related products and services. We serve as an industry coordinating body to promote fair and orderly markets, informed regulatory compliance, and efficient market operations and resiliency. We also provide a forum for industry policy and professional development.  SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).