Spain's markets regulator wants spot-quoted futures and perpetual futures sold to local retail clients treated as contracts for difference, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) told the firms it licenses today (Wednesday).
The position, relayed at the request of Spain's Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), places the futures-labeled products under the country's leverage caps, advertising ban, and other retail CFD restrictions.
What the Notice Actually Changes
In a short circular, CySEC said the CNMV holds the view that spot-quoted futures, known as SQFs, must count as CFDs for regulatory purposes.
That reading subjects them to the CNMV resolutions of 2019 and July 2023, the latter of which banned CFD advertising to retail clients in Spain and curbed certain sales practices.
The notice sets no deadline and adds no reporting duty.
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What is new is the explicit reach, covering SQFs, "perpetual futures, or analogue products," language absent from CySEC's October 2023 notice on the same rules.
A Position That Traces Back to ESMA
The instruction tracks a statement the European Securities and Markets Authority issued on Feb. 24, which told firms that perpetual futures meeting the CFD definition already fall under the bloc's intervention measures.
ESMA said the assessment applies "irrespective of their commercial name." Under the CFD regime, retail crypto leverage is capped at 2:1, far below the multiples crypto venues advertise.
A Cyprus firm had already asked ESMA in mid-2025 how perpetual futures should be treated, so the question has been live across the industry for the better part of a year.
Where the Labels Came From
The SQF name entered the market through CME Group, which listed bitcoin, ether, and equity index versions on June 30, 2025. The exchange described them as "designed with similar features of perpetual contracts."
CME's contracts are exchange-traded and overseen by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which keeps them outside the CNMV's reach.
Spain's test targets the over-the-counter products that brokers market to retail clients under the same labels.
For Cyprus firms, which passport heavily into Spain, the message is less a rule change than a signal. The request came from Madrid, which usually means the CNMV has seen the products it just named being sold across its border.
