Nathan A. Howell

NATHAN HOWELL focuses his practice on U.S. commodities law and regulation For 20 years, Nathan has creatively and strategically solved transaction-specific regulatory issues, designed investment structures and supervisory systems to harden them against future regulatory scrutiny, and efficiently and effectively navigated his clients through regulatory and self-regulatory organization investigations and examinations. Many of his matters involve the cross-border application of U.S. laws and regulations.

Nathan has advised clients in every corner of the derivatives industry on a vast array of issues arising under the Commodity Exchange Act, and the rules, regulations, and interpretations of Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Futures Association, and U.S. futures and swaps exchanges.

Nathan is ranked in Chambers USA (2024–⁠2025) and Chambers Global (2025) for USA Investment Funds: Regulatory and Compliance. Clients in the 2025 edition of Chambers Global praised Nathan for being “an exceptional lawyer who consistently provides practical advice. He demonstrates a deep understanding of complex legal issues.” Nathan also has been recognized by the National Law Journal as a cryptocurrency, blockchain and fintech “Trailblazer” (2018).

He created and co-edited The Virtual Currency Regulation Review, one of the earliest dedicated, jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction treatises on global virtual currency regulation (2018–⁠2021).

Representative clients include:

• Global Banks (Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch).
• Commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors (Point72 Asset Management, Squarepoint Capital, UBS Asset Management Americas, Citadel Advisors, Davidson Kempner, Capstone Investment Advisors, Moore Capital Management, Monroe Capital Management, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors).
• Other financial institutions (Western Union, MasterCard, Fidelity, PayPal, Rothsay Life plc).
• Foreign pensions (Alberta Investment Management Co., Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan).
• U.S. exchanges and clearinghouses (CME Group, the Options Clearing Corp., MIAX).
• Foreign exchanges and clearinghouses (National Stock Exchange of India, Korea Exchange, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing).
• Commercial end-users (United Airlines, Abbott Laboratories).
• Energy trading firms (Mercuria Energy, Musket Corp.).

Representative matters include:

• Counseled Fortune 500 company on the application of the swap dealer de minimis exception to the firm’s global money transmission business.
• Advised global financial institutions on application of the CFTC’s “retail commodity transactions” rules to new cryptocurrency products and services.
• Co-authored industry legal memos on bankruptcy remoteness of derivatives margin and enforceability of netting rules for major U.S. derivatives clearinghouses.
• Advised major foreign derivatives exchanges on U.S. market access issues, including foreign board of trade (FBOT) issues, Part 30 exemptions, approval of broad-based security index futures, and cross-border application of foreign security futures product requirements.
• Provide real-time “day of trade” advice to major hedge funds and proprietary trading firms, and counsel market participants on regulatory and enforcement examinations, inquiries, and investigations by NFA, and US futures and swaps self-regulatory organizations.
• Advised global investment manager with over US$700 billion in assets under management on satisfying CFTC registration exemptions and compliance with swap and security-based swap reporting requirements.
• Have advised 10 of the 20 largest hedge fund managers in the United States, representing current total assets under management of US$925 billion, on application of U.S. commodities laws and regulations to complex financial transactions.
• Provide day-to-day commodities regulatory and compliance advice to investment managers with aggregate assets under management of over US$1 trillion.
• Handled CFTC registration and NFA membership applications, and design of supervisory and compliance programs, for dozens of investment managers.
• Advised airlines, pharmaceutical companies, energy firms, manufacturers, and other commercial end users of derivatives on application of the Dodd-Frank “end-user exception.”
• Advised Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund with over US$1 trillion investment assets on U.S. position limit compliance across its entire investment structure.
• Advised Scandinavian family office with over US$2 billion in assets on U.S. market expansion and business structuring issues.
• Representation of U.S. and non-U.S. self-regulatory organizations in connection with registration and exemption issues, rule filings, new product development, rulemaking petitions, banking relationships, industry bank capital and bankruptcy opinions, and various legislative and regulatory comment letters, petitions, and requests for interpretations and no-action letters.
• Counseling U.S. and non-U.S. commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors in connection with registration, exemption, and compliance matters under the CEA and regulations of the CFTC.
• Counseling significant swaps market participants on major swap participant status under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.
• Representation of derivatives dealers in connection with swap dealer registration, exemption, and compliance matters under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.
• Counseling would-be swap dealers in connection with application of the Dodd-Frank Act “de minimis” swap dealer exemption.
• Representation of financial and commercial end-users on a variety of issues under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, including swaps clearing and trading mandates, development of swaps policies, and negotiation of hedging arrangements.
• Advising commercial swaps end-users with respect to the “end-user exemption” under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, including public company board approval requirements.
• Counseling swaps market participants on swap data reporting and recordkeeping requirements under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.
• Advice to a variety of financial institutions on the jurisdictional boundaries between the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Advising clients on potential U.S. legislative and regulatory changes with respect to derivatives.

Nate is a member of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the Futures and Derivatives Law Committee and the Financial and Emerging Technology Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. From 2016–2017, Nate served on the Advisory Board for the annual Conference on Futures and Derivatives held at Chicago-Kent College of Law.