Commentary by James Treanor
The Office of Foreign Assets Control extended a "maintenance and wind-down" period permitting authorized U.S. persons to participate in certain transactions involving a Russia-based aluminum company on the Specially Designated Nationals list.
The Secretary of the Treasury extended the compliance dates for regulations implementing qualified financial contract recordkeeping requirements for certain non-bank financial companies that may pose systemic risk.
FINRA staff concluded that member firms may use "Related Performance Information" in institutional communications concerning variable annuity and life insurance contracts.
FINRA proposed amending its anti-money laundering rules to codify requirements under FinCEN's Customer Due Diligence Rule. The Rule goes into full effect on May 11, 2018.
The SEC filed additional fraud charges in connection with a recently halted initial coin offering. The SEC also named an additional defendant in the action.