The CFTC ordered a non-U.S. financial services firm to pay a $140,000 civil monetary penalty for providing services to two U.S. customers who were trading foreign futures and options contracts without being registered, or exempted from registration, as futures commission merchants under CFTC Rules.

The NFA made "enhancements" to CPO Form PQR. "In certain instances, a CPO will be able to add a pool to its pool filing index as long as the pool is already associated with the CPO and not exempt from filing the Form PQR." Further, "in Schedule A, CPO's now have the ability to enter a ceased date for a layer in the Rates of Return section." Samples of these changes are contained here. The changes are effective for the quarter ending on December 31, 2015.

Financial industry groups seek permission to file an amicus brief in a federal case involving the legal standard required to prove manipulation and attempted manipulation of a commodity price.

The SEC approved new MSRB rules establishing core standards of conduct for municipal advisors that engage in advisory activities other than solicitation. The SEC approved related amendments establishing recordkeeping requirements that apply when a municipal advisor makes a suitability determination or reviews the recommendation of another party.

The SEC solicited comments on FINRA's proposal to extend the expiration date for FINRA Rule 0180 ("Application of Rules to Security-Based Swaps") until February 11, 2017. The SEC's request for comments was published in the Federal Register.