The Investigative Journal’s daily review of rules, proposed rules, and notices published in the Federal Register. All items below are drawn from documents filed for publication in the August 21, 2026 issue, as posted to the Federal Register’s public-inspection desk. Links resolve to the official documents.
Friday’s Federal Register is unusually consequential for financial markets and federal contracting. Filings posted ahead of today’s issue — more than 110 documents from over 40 agencies, according to the Office of the Federal Register’s public-inspection listing — include the Securities and Exchange Commission’s long-awaited 360-page “Regulation Crypto Assets” proposal, a Labor Department final rule dismantling the six-decade-old affirmative-action framework for federal contractors, a first-of-its-kind Commodity Futures Trading Commission inquiry into futures contracts on artificial-intelligence computing power, and IRS guidance defining what the new “Trump accounts” for children may invest in. Here is what matters, and when the comment windows close.
1. SEC proposes “Regulation Crypto Assets,” a tailored offering regime for token fundraising
The day’s headline item is the SEC’s Regulation Crypto Assets, a 360-page proposed rule that would, if adopted, create a purpose-built framework under the securities laws for fundraising involving crypto assets. According to the SEC’s announcement, the proposal centers on what it calls “covered investment contracts” and would establish two new exemptions from Securities Act registration: a “startup” exemption permitting up to $5 million in raises over a four-year period, and a larger “fundraising” exemption permitting up to $75 million in each 12-month period, the latter carrying financial-statement and ongoing reporting obligations.
The proposal also includes a conditional safe harbor from the term “investment contract” in the definitions of “security” under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — a provision likely to draw intense comment from both industry and investor-protection advocates, since it goes to the core question of when a token offering is a securities offering at all. Issuers relying on either exemption would owe investors principles-based narrative disclosures, per the Commission’s summary. The full proposing release is posted at SEC.gov.
The comment period runs 60 days from today’s publication — closing on or about October 20, 2026. Given the volume of capital that has moved through token markets outside any disclosure regime, the rulemaking record here is worth watching closely: the exemption ceilings, the safe-harbor conditions, and the treatment of secondary-market trading will determine how much of the crypto fundraising economy comes inside the SEC’s perimeter.
2. Labor Department finalizes rescission of Executive Order 11246 contractor regulations
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) is publishing a 131-page final rule rescinding the regulations that implemented Executive Order 11246 — the 1965 order that for decades required covered federal contractors to maintain affirmative-action programs and barred employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin. The rule follows Executive Order 14173, signed January 21, 2025, which revoked E.O. 11246. The final rule states an effective date of October 26, 2026, and the Department writes that it also “determined that significant portions of the E.O. 11246 regulatory framework are legally vulnerable” on constitutional and statutory grounds.
The practical stakes are large. Under the rescinded framework at 41 CFR part 60-2, nonconstruction contractors with 50 or more employees and contracts of at least $50,000 had to develop and maintain written affirmative-action programs for each establishment, with workforce composition analyses — obligations that reached a substantial share of the American workforce. The rulemaking record dates to a July 2025 proposal whose comment period ran through September 2025.
Contractors should note what survives: OFCCP’s authorities under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act (disability) and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act are statutory and remain in force, and the Department is publishing companion final rules today modifying those regulations — Section 503 modifications (94 pages) and VEVRAA modifications (40 pages). The specifics of those changes are set out in the documents themselves, and employment counsel will be parsing them closely.
3. CFTC opens the books on AI “compute” futures
In one of the more forward-looking filings of the year, the CFTC is publishing a request for comment on the listing of compute derivatives contracts — futures and swaps that would reference the price of access to computing power, the scarce input at the center of the AI economy. The filing cites research estimating that the installed compute stock already implies a gross compute service flow of roughly $430 billion to $1.3 trillion per year, or about 1.4 to 4 percent of U.S. GDP.
The Commission’s questions are notably pointed. It states its preliminary understanding that compute markets are fragmented, that price formation occurs largely in “opaque bilateral transactions,” and that dominant providers “may wield significant pricing power that may lead to manipulability.” The document asks whether any existing compute price index is reliable enough to settle a futures contract against, what surveillance a designated contract market would need, what protections retail participants would require, and whether “perpetual” compute futures pose unique risks. Comments are due 60 days after publication — on or about October 20, 2026. The voting summary records no dissents.
4. CFTC also moves to trim registration burdens for fund managers
Separately, the CFTC is proposing amendments to its commodity pool operator and commodity trading advisor registration rules. According to the proposal’s summary, SEC-registered investment advisers would gain an exemption from CPO registration for pools limited to certain sophisticated investors, a related CTA exemption would be added, and the “small pool” exemption’s capital-contributions threshold would be raised for inflation. The Commission states it preliminarily intends the proposal to supersede certain staff no-action positions. The comment window is 45 days — closing on or about October 5, 2026.
5. IRS defines the investment menu for “Trump accounts”
The IRS and Treasury are publishing proposed regulations on eligible investments for Trump accounts, the tax-favored children’s accounts created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119-21, July 4, 2025) under new section 530A of the tax code. During an account’s “growth period” — from establishment through the end of the calendar year the beneficiary turns 17 — funds may be held only in “eligible investments”: mutual funds or ETFs that track a “qualified index,” use no leverage, and charge annual fees of no more than 0.1 percent. The statute defines a qualified index as the S&P 500 or another index of primarily U.S. equities on which regulated futures trade, and excludes industry- or sector-specific indexes.
This is the third Trump-account rulemaking, following two March 2026 proposals on account establishment and the $1,000 federal pilot contribution for eligible children. The filing indicates the rules would affect account beneficiaries and trustees — a group that could grow quickly as the pilot program ramps up. Comments and hearing requests are due 60 days after publication, on or about October 20, 2026.
6. Immigration filing fees rise October 1 under OBBBA’s inflation mandate
The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review is publishing a final rule adjusting immigration-court and Board of Immigration Appeals filing fees for inflation, as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act requires annually. Applying the statutory formula — a 3.4 percent CPI-U change from July 2025 to July 2026, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data cited in the rule — the total fee for an appeal of an immigration judge’s decision (Form EOIR-26) rises to $1,060, and an application for cancellation of removal for certain nonpermanent residents (Form EOIR-42B) reaches $1,690. The rule takes effect October 1, 2026, and EOIR states it will reject filings made on or after that date without the proper fee or a fee-waiver request. Because the adjustment is statutorily prescribed, the Department invoked the Administrative Procedure Act’s good-cause exception and issued the rule without notice and comment — a routine but consequential mechanism worth flagging for practitioners.
7. Commerce refines the tariff-relief pathway for steel and aluminum producers
The International Trade Administration is publishing a 30-day Paperwork Reduction Act notice on its procedures for steel and aluminum producers seeking tariff adjustments under Proclamation 10984 of October 17, 2025. As described in the notice, producers operating facilities in Canada or Mexico that supply U.S. motor-vehicle manufacturers may apply for Section 232 tariff reductions — up to half the otherwise applicable rate, with a 25 percent floor — in quantities tied to newly committed U.S. production capacity of primary steel or primary aluminum, for USMCA-qualifying imports smelted and cast (or melted and poured) in Canada or Mexico. Commerce estimates about 60 respondents and 3,600 annual burden hours. Comments on the collection are due within 30 days of publication via reginfo.gov. For supply-chain and trade watchers, the filing is a window into how the administration is operationalizing tariff relief tied to verifiable domestic investment commitments.
Comment deadlines at a glance
- SEC, Regulation Crypto Assets — 60 days from publication (on or about Oct. 20, 2026)
- CFTC, compute derivatives request for comment — 60 days (on or about Oct. 20, 2026)
- CFTC, CPO/CTA registration exemptions — 45 days (on or about Oct. 5, 2026)
- IRS, Trump account eligible investments — 60 days (on or about Oct. 20, 2026)
- Commerce/ITA, steel and aluminum tariff-adjustment procedures — 30 days from publication
Also on our beats
Several smaller filings touch The Investigative Journal’s accountability files. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking comment on renewal of the money services business registration collection (FinCEN Form 107) — the paperwork backbone of MSB anti-money-laundering oversight. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has a proposed rule on its Genealogy Program addressing the impact of federal records requirements — of interest to researchers who rely on the program for historical immigration records. The SBA published a disaster declaration for Illinois, and FEMA filed a dozen flood hazard determination notices that quietly reshape flood-insurance obligations in affected communities. And in a procedural footnote worth recording: the FCC placed a data-breach reporting document on public inspection, then sent a withdrawal request after filing — the Office of the Federal Register notes the document remains on inspection through close of business today, with the withdrawal letter available on request. We will be watching what replaces it.
Methodology and sourcing: Every item above is drawn from the official Federal Register documents linked in the text, as filed for the August 21, 2026 issue, supplemented by the SEC’s public press materials. Effective dates and fee amounts are as stated in the documents; comment deadlines described as “on or about” are calculated from the publication date and should be confirmed against the DATES section of each published document. No private individual is the subject of any allegation in this report.