The SEC issued a second no-action letter to FINRA providing relief to member firms that do not comply with Exchange Act Rule 15c2-11 concerning fixed income securities until dates beginning on January 3, 2022, and staggered in three phases.

Hong Kong and China were designated as jurisdictions where the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is incapable of full inspections or investigations.

The Senate confirmed Rostin Behnam as Chair of the CFTC. President Joseph R. Biden will nominate Summer Mersinger and Caroline Pham to serve as CFTC commissioners.

The MSRB requested a second round of comments on revisions to proposed Rule G-46 to codify previously issued guidance on requirements applicable to solicitor municipal advisors. This new comment period will close on March 15, 2022.

As part of the final phase of the SOFR First Initiative, the CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee recommended that market participants (i) “transact in SOFR exchange-traded derivatives as soon as possible” and (ii) adopt the best practice of replacing LIBOR with SOFR for new contracts after year-end 2021.