FINRA provided payment and dispute resolution details to broker-dealers and investment advisors regarding balances due on registration renewal and other fees. These fees are reflected in final statements issued on January 4, 2016.

The CFTC proposed amendments to its rules that would establish an alternative to the fingerprinting requirement that applies to foreign persons under the current registration application.

FINRA encouraged investors to "start 2016 on the right financial foot" by taking "stock - literally and figuratively - of their investment portfolios." In an end of year news release, FINRA suggested that investors should focus on planning, staying on top of market changes that could impact portfolios, and investment protection. FINRA urged investors to: set clear, prioritized goals - each with steps to achieve the goal, a price tag and a time frame - to help guide investment approaches; take advantage of day-to-day opportunities to help build finances for the long term; keep several factors

In a Streetwise Professor blog post titled "Spoof Me Once, Shame on You: Spoof Me Twice, Shame on Me," University of Houston finance professor Craig Pirrong asserted that "the very nature of spoofing - which involves doing things that are intended to be detected - makes it vulnerable to detection and countermeasures." In contending that high-frequency trading ("HFT") firms are able to detect spoofers, Professor Pirrong stated that spoofing "is a pathogen that found a niche, but the hosts' immune systems are adapting, and it will become less dangerous in short order." Accordingly, Professor

The SEC published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Concept Release and Request for Comment on Transfer Agent Regulations in the Federal Register. The Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking covers the following specific areas: (i) transfer agent registration and reporting requirements; (ii) safeguarding of funds and securities; (iii) the revision of obsolete or outdated rules. The Concept Release and Request for Comment addresses additional areas of specific SEC interest, including: (i) processing of book-entry securities; (ii) broker-dealer recordkeeping for beneficial owners; (iii)