The CFTC just pulled the emergency brake on CME Group’s attempt to launch around-the-clock crude oil futures trading, with Chairman Michael Selig calling the exchange’s decision to self-certify the product “wholly inappropriate.”
On July 9, Selig announced the Commission would invoke its authority under 17 C.F.R. 40.2(c) to stay the listing of a new 10-barrel WTI Crude Oil futures contract, ticker symbol TCL, that CME had planned to launch as early as July 10. The exchange had filed its self-certification just one day prior, on July 8, giving the regulator barely any runway to evaluate whether the contract complied with the Commodity Exchange Act.
A miniature contract with outsized implications
At 10 barrels, the TCL contract is roughly 1/100th the size of the standard CL crude oil futures contract that institutional traders use. CME’s existing crude oil futures already trade on an extended schedule, running from Sunday through Friday with daily breaks built in. The proposed TCL contract would have eliminated those breaks entirely, operating on a true 24/7 continuous basis.
Self-certification as a regulatory shortcut
