Case 1:25-cv-14723 Document 10-1 Filed 08/19/25 Page 26 of 34 PageID: 98
Third , the regulatory scheme set out in the CEA, over which the CFTC has exclusive
jurisdiction, is comprehensive as it relates to designated and registered entities, and the existence
of this comprehensive scheme further evinces Congressional intent to preempt the field and
foreclose parallel state regulation. See Arizona v. United States , 567 U.S. 387, 401 (2012)
(comprehensive statutory framework led to the conclusion that “the Federal Government has
occupied the field” in the relevant area); La. Pub. Serv. Comm’n v. FCC , 476 U.S. 355, 368-69
(1986) (“Pre-emption occurs . . . where Congress has legislated comprehensively, thus occupying
an entire field of regulation and leaving no room for the States to supplement federal law . . . .”).
Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the CEA establishes “a comprehensive regulatory
structure to oversee the volatile and esoteric futures trading complex.” Merrill Lynch, Pierce,
Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran , 456 U.S. 353, 356 (1982) (quoting H.R. Rep. No. 93-975, at 1
(1974)).
Accordingly, the CEA, as amended in 1974 to give the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction and
in 2010 to add swaps and the special rule regarding event contracts, expressly or impliedly
preempts the field of commodity futures and swaps trading, including event contracts trading, on
designated contract markets.
In addition to express or implied field preemption, conflict preemption exists here with
respect to the determination of which event contracts are permitted on CFTC-designated
exchanges. As noted above, the special rule relating to CFTC review of event contracts vests the
CFTC with the power to approve or prohibit certain event contracts. 7 U.S.C. § 7a-2(c)(5)(C)(i);
17 C.F.R. § 40.11(a)(1)-(2). If the Division were permitted also to make a determination about
whether event contracts on a CFTC-regulated exchange were permitted, there would be a direct
conflict between federal and state regulation because the CFTC has already impliedly approved
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