FINRA proposed revisions to the content outline and selection specifications for the General Securities Sales Supervisor (Series 9/10) examination program. Specifically, the proposed revisions would: (i) update the material to reflect changes to the laws, rules and regulations covered by the examination and to incorporate the functions and associated tasks currently performed by a General Securities Sales Supervisor; and (ii) make changes to the format of the content outline. FINRA specified that it is not proposing any textual changes to its By-Laws, Schedules to the By-Laws or Rules.

The CFTC settled charges against an investment bank that failed to disclose certain conflicts of interest to clients. Specifically, the bank failed to disclose its preference for investing client funds in certain commodity pools or exempt pools, namely hedge funds and mutual funds managed and operated by an affiliate and subsidiary of the bank. The CFTC required the bank to pay a $40 million civil monetary penalty, to disgorge $60 million and to cease and desist from further violations.

FINRA fined and ordered a firm to pay nearly $530,000 in restitution for failing to detect or prevent the theft of more than $1 million from nine of its customers, eight of whom were senior citizens. FINRA found that from August 2006 until May 2013, an employee of the company posed as a broker and ran a conversion scheme by targeting former customers from another brokerage firm that had previously fired her. She then urged the victims to establish accounts at the firm and also established joint accounts with them in which she was listed as an owner. She eventually established more than 50

New SRO rules, rule proposals and NMS plans were announced by the SEC. Click on the links below to view the SEC's notices of exchange rule changes and proposals from December 14 to December 18. Clearance Settlement: NSCC: Order Approving Proposed Rule Change to Provide Mechanism for Sub-Account Settlement with Respect to the Alternative Investment Product Services(Release No. 34-76652; File No. SR-NSCC-2015-007; December 15, 2015) OCC: Notice of Filing of an Advance Notice, as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1, 2 and 3, Concerning The Options Clearing Corporations Non-Bank Liquidity Facility

The CFTC solicited comments on its proposed Regulation on Automated Trading ("Regulation AT") that would establish a series of risk controls, transparency measures and other safeguards to enhance the regulatory regime for automated trading on U.S. designated contract markets. The request for comment was published in the Federal Register. Comments on the proposed Regulation AT must be submitted by March 16, 2016.