The National Futures Association ("NFA"), ISDA and SIFMA, among others, expressed support for the CFTC proposal to amend Rules 23.700-704 to simplify certain requirements regarding the rights of counterparties to require segregation initial margin ("IM") in transactions with swap dealers. ( See previous coverage of the proposal here.) The NFA called the existing requirements "unnecessarily prescriptive," and generally supported the various amendments proposed by the CFTC. The NFA also requested that the CFTC clarify whether Rule 23.704(a) requires a quarterly report when a swap dealer's

The FDIC solicited comments on how the agency can "maximize efficiency" and "minimize burden" when communicating information regarding laws and rules to consumers and banks. The request for information asks for ways to improve FDIC's process for circulating information, including through the use of Financial Institution Letters. Comments will be accepted for 60 days following publication of the request for information in the Federal Register.

In a series of white papers, ISDA analyzed how G20 regulations affect clearing with regard to central counterparty growth, market access and incentives to clear.

SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein urged the agency to expand its cybersecurity regulations in various ways, including (i) establishing requirements as to a corporate board of directors having meetings with the company's Chief Information Officer and (ii) subjecting broker-dealers and investment advisers to some expanded version of Regulation SCI (the regulation that establishes certain requirements as to the implementation of technology by market places). At the 62nd Henry J. Miller Distinguished Lecture Series, Ms. Stein called upon SEC Chair Jay Clayton to prioritize revising cybersecurity

A global retail pharmacy company and two of its former executives agreed to settle SEC charges for misleading investors. According to the SEC Order, in June 2012, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. ("Walgreens Boots") announced a two-step merger with Alliance Boots, GmbH, a European pharmacy-led health and beauty company. Walgreens Boots communicated to the market a projection that the combined entity would generate $9 to $9.5 billion in adjusted operating income. According to the SEC, Walgreens Boots, its former chief executive officer and its former chief financial officer neglected to disclose