In a Regulatory Notice, FINRA reminded firms that after April 12, 2019, alternative trading systems ("ATSs") and broker-dealers that subscribe to ATSs will be required to report to TRACE each individual transaction in U.S. Treasury securities executed in a trading session on the ATS ( i.e., report transactions on a "disaggregated" basis) together with the time and price at which each individual transaction was executed.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting to disclose his plans for the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA") by February 1, 2019. As previously covered, President Donald J. Trump expressed his intention to name Mr. Otting as Acting Director of the FHFA. In a letter, Rep. Waters and Sen. Brown said that they have neither (i) had the opportunity to probe Mr. Otting's views on the housing finance system and the policies

A broker-dealer agreed to settle FINRA charges for recommending unsuitable Unit Investment Trust ("UIT") exchanges and failing to have a sufficient supervisory system. According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, certain Hennion & Walsh, Inc. ("HW") registered representatives recommended 645 unsuitable series-to-series switches between similar UITs that had similar investment objectives. FINRA stated that, as a result of the series-to-series switches, customers incurred sales charges of over $300,000. FINRA alleged that HW neglected to establish and maintain an adequate system to

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters named the six subcommittee chairs. The subcommittee chairs in the 116th Congress are: Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), who will be the Chair of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets; Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who will serve as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions; Representative William Lacy Clay (D-MO), who will serve as the Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development and Insurance; Representative Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), who

Federal banking agencies, in a review conducted under the Shared National Credit ("SNC") program, found increased risks associated with leveraged lending. The SNC program is conducted by the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the "agencies"). The program is a "review and assessment of risk in the largest and most complex credits shared by multiple regulated financial institutions." The agencies reviewed loan commitments that originated before March 31, 2018. The agencies found that: risks associated with leveraged lending activities are