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Finding F-03 · WP-05 · verified August 2026

US futures law has an explicit safe harbor

U.S. futures law contains an explicit, self-executing safe harbor for standardized trading analysis — CFTC Reg 4.14(a)(9) — whose two conditions are precisely the person-invariance design rule.

ORIN Labs WP-05 · F-03 · as of August 2026
Basis

17 C.F.R. §4.14(a)(9); R&W Technical Services v. CFTC, 205 F.3d 165 (5th Cir. 2000); CFTC v. Vartuli, 228 F.3d 94 (2d Cir. 2000).

Method

Doctrinal analysis of primary sources — statutes, regulations, adopted rules, case law and official guidance — supplemented by the enforcement record and by regulator publications through August 2026. Each 2024–2026 development was verified against the issuing body’s own publication or contemporaneous professional reporting. Argued in §2 of the paper.

As of

August 2026. The regulatory record moves; this finding is dated rather than presented as timeless, and it is revised or withdrawn — never silently amended — when the record changes. Corrections: labs@tryorin.xyz.

Cite this finding

ORIN Labs (2026). F-03: US futures law has an explicit safe harbor. In AI Decision Support and the Advice Line, ORIN Labs Research WP-05. https://tryorin.xyz/labs/findings/cftc-4-14-a-9-safe-harbor. August 2026.

Quoting the sentence above verbatim is the intended use. It carries its own jurisdiction, method and date so that it stays true when it is read away from this page.

The other findings in WP-05

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