Kathryn (Katie) Trkla works on a variety of matters for derivatives exchanges and clearing houses (domestic and foreign), futures commission merchants and securities brokerage firms, institutional investors, professional trading firms, commercial hedgers, and other clients. Katie has over 40 years鈥 of experience in the derivatives and securities industries, including 11 years with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) where she was senior vice president and associate general counsel before joining 麻豆传媒 in 2000. She is a partner in the firm鈥檚 financial markets regulatory practice within the Securities Enforcement & Litigation Practice; the Business Law Department; the Energy and Innovative Technologies Sectors; and the the Digital Assets & Blockchain practice group.
Katie鈥檚 experience ranges from representing clients on matters before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and self-regulatory organizations; analyzing regulatory proposals; counseling clients on the implications of legislative and rule changes; and providing general regulatory counsel. Her deep experience and background qualify her to provide a broad and unique perspective on the issues and regulations facing the financial markets and market participants.
Katie has a thorough understanding of the regulation of derivatives clearing, protection of customer funds, and issues involving commodity broker bankruptcies. She assists with drafting clearing house rules and rule changes and analyzes the enforceability of clearing house rules. She counsels clients on differences in treatment and protection of funds associated with cleared versus non-cleared derivatives transactions and clearing of swaps versus futures.
Along with a 麻豆传媒 colleague, she served as special commodity counsel to the trustee in the PFG commodity broker bankruptcy. As co-chair of the ABA Part 190 Subcommittee comprised of members of the ABA Derivatives & Futures Law and Business Bankruptcy Committees, Katie co-led the project to draft 鈥渕odel鈥 comprehensive revisions to the CFTC Part 190 Commodity Broker Bankruptcy Rules, which formed the foundation for the comprehensive amendments to Part 190 that the CFTC approved in December 2020.
Awards and Recognition
- Peer review rated as AV Preeminent庐, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell庐 Peer Review Ratings鈩 system
- Recognized, Chambers Global and Chambers USA: America鈥檚 Leading Lawyers for Business in
- Derivatives (2018-2026)
- Derivatives: Mainly Regulatory (2018-2026)
- Derivatives: Enforcement (2022-2024)
- Selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America庐 since 2007 in Derivatives and Futures Law
- Named Chicago鈥檚 2014 and 2019 Lawyer of the Year for derivatives and futures law*
Affiliations
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Chicago Bar Association
- Chair, ABA Derivatives & Futures Law Committee (Sept. 2020 鈥 2023)
- Vice Chair, ABA Derivatives & Futures Law Committee (2015-2020)
- Co-Chair, ABA Part 190 Subcommittee (2015-2020)
- Chair, ABA Innovative Digitized Products and Processes Subcommittee (IDPPS) (2018-Jan. 2020)
- Member, Futures Industry Association (鈥淔IA鈥) Law & Compliance Executive Committee (and formerly served from May 2020- 2023; May 2015-2018)
- Member, Board of Editors, Futures and Derivatives Law Report (since Oct. 2020)
- Faculty Practicing Law Institute (PLI) (since 2010)
Selected Presentations and Publications
- Co-Author, 鈥淒erivatives Regulation鈥 (2nd Edition), Wolters Kluwer
- Co-Author, Chapter on 鈥淐ommodities Regulation鈥, 鈥淟egal Matters in Web 3: A Desk Reference,鈥 University of Chicago Law School Center on Law and Finance (Fall 2024)
- Co-Author, 鈥淧art 190 Across the Finish Line: CFTC Adopts New Bankruptcy Rules for FCMs and DCOs,鈥 Futures & Derivatives Law Report (April 2021)
- Speaker, 鈥淢arket Structure鈥 panel, The University of Chicago Law School 2025 Digital Assets Symposium (Sept. 2025)
- Speaker, 鈥淐ommodity Exchange Act Primer,鈥 FIA Law & Compliance Conference (April 2025)
- Speaker, 鈥淐learing鈥 and 鈥淪wap Execution鈥 panels, PLI Conference on Advanced Swaps & Other Derivatives (Oct. 2024)
- Chair, 鈥淭rading on SEFs, DCMs and Digital Assets Platforms鈥 panel, 2024 FIA Law & Compliance Conference (Spring 2024).
- Co-Chair, 鈥淲rap-Up Panel,鈥 ABA Derivatives and Future Law Committee Winter Meeting (Feb. 2023)
- Speaker, 鈥淐entralized Exchanges and Custodial Services,鈥 University of Chicago Law School Conference on Legal Matters in the Web3 Economy (Jan. 2023)
- Moderator, Keynote Presentation of Gary Gensler, then-Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission, ABA Derivatives and Future Law Committee Virtual Mid-Year Program (July 2021)