The SEC issued a " Commission Statement" to provide relief from aspects of the security-based swap dealer ("SBSD") business conduct rules, primarily the treatment of special entities. The SEC stated that the action is in response to "practical compliance difficulties" raised by market participants. The relief allows market participants to rely on representations in the context of complying with CFTC external business conduct requirements. In particular, the statement takes the following "no-action" positions that are "limited to the Commission's enforcement discretion . . . and does not modify

The SEC adopted amendments to consolidate and update property disclosure requirements for mining registrants. The agency also provided guidance on the updated requirements. The amendments will provide investors with a more complete understanding of a registrant's mining properties, which would enable them to make better informed investment decisions. The SEC stated that the amendments will further align the agency's disclosure requirements for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory standards. The final rule amendments include several changes to the proposed rules that

President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order ("E.O.") authorizing the imposition of sanctions on persons who "operate corruptly" in Venezuela's gold sector "or in any other sector of the Venezuelan economy as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State." The new sanctions authorizations are broad and are a response to actions by the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and associated persons, who are alleged to have "plunder[ed] Venezuela's wealth for their own corrupt purposes." In a set of FAQs, the U.S. Treasury Department

FINRA notified firms that the 2019 Renewal Program begins on November 12, 2018, when Preliminary Statements of fees owed to FINRA will be available to all firms. FINRA advised that the failure of any member to fully pay the amount owed in its Preliminary Statement by December 17, 2018 will result in such member being subject to a late fee. FINRA provided the following key dates for the renewal process: October 22, 2018: Firms may begin submitting postdated Form U5 and BR Closing/Withdrawal filings via Web CRD/IARD; November 1, 2018: Firms may begin submitting postdated Form BDW and ADV-W

The Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") proposed a rule that would tailor the application of prudential standards to U.S. bank holding companies and apply enhanced standards to certain large savings and loan holding companies. The FRB, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the "agencies") separately proposed changes that would tailor the application of the agencies' capital and liquidity rules to large U.S. banking organizations. Both proposals would establish categories of prudential standards in order to align requirements with a firm's risk profile. According to the