The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed the " Financial Technology Protection Act." The purpose of the Act is to fight the illicit use of digital currencies, including in terrorist financing. If enacted into law, the bipartisan legislation would: create an Independent Financial Technology Task Force in order to address terrorism and illicit financing in the FinTech industry. The Task Force would consist of the Secretary of the Treasury, the U.S. Attorney General, other senior law enforcement and intelligence community leaders, and representatives from the private

The SEC named Manisha Kimmel to serve as Senior Policy Advisory for Regulatory Reporting. In addition to advising Chair Jay Clayton on regulatory reporting matters, Ms. Kimmel will coordinate SEC oversight of the Consolidated Audit Trail ("CAT"). Ms. Kimmel previously served as the Head of Regulatory and Compliance, Wealth Management at Refinitiv, a provider of financial markets data and infrastructure. She also served on an Advisory Committee for CAT NMS LLC, a group of industry experts that offered technical specifications, reporting functionality, and other matters relating to the CAT. Ms

CFTC Chair J. Christopher Giancarlo reported that the agency has returned to normal operations.

The MSRB filed a rule change with the SEC to extend the effective date of previously approved amendments to MSRB Rule G-21 and new MSRB Rule G-40 (collectively, the "advertising rules"). Currently, the effective date of the advertising rules is set to be February 7, 2019. The MSRB stated that it is seeking the extension in order to complete its initial guidance, submit any related rule changes, "and, subsequently, allow dealers and municipal advisors to establish and implement effective policies and procedures for compliance with the advertising rules."

CFTC Commissioner Dan Berkovitz proposed a number of measures that might increase competition in the swaps markets. In remarks at the Commodity Markets Council State of the Industry, Mr. Berkovitz stated that he voted against the CFTC's proposal to change the swap trading rules because it conflicted with the free and open competition principles that are within the Commodity Exchange Act and the Dodd-Frank Act. He complained that the current swaps market is dominated by a "few large bank dealers," with the five largest dealers party to 80% of the notional amount traded. He stated that "[t]hese