SEC Division of Investment Management ("IM") Director David Grim summarized the SEC's 2015 rulemaking initiatives in derivatives, liquidity management, and registered funds reporting, and the SEC's 2016 rulemaking agenda on transition planning and stress testing. At the Investment Company Institute 2015 Securities Law Development Conference, Director Grim urged securities regulators not to "rest on [their] laurels" during the upcoming year. Director Grim highlighted the following SEC 2015 initiatives: Enhancing Derivatives Regulation. SEC staff has been evaluating whether the current

The CFTC voted unanimously to approve two proposals to amend existing regulations that address cybersecurity testing and safeguards for automated systems. The approved proposals would (i) require that exchanges, clearing organizations, swap execution facilities and swap data repositories conduct tests of cyber protections; (ii) set forth the kinds of tests that must be conducted and the frequency of the testing periods, and determine whether the tests should be conducted by independent parties; and (iii) establish standards for incident response planning and enterprise technology risk

The Structured Finance Industry Group, Inc. ("SFIG") and SIFMA filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari and reverse a Second Circuit ruling that the application of state usury laws to third-party assignees is not preempted by the National Bank Act. In Midland Funding and Midland Credit Management, Inc. v. Saliha Madden, the lead plaintiff defaulted on a credit card loan made by a national bank. The loan was then sold to a collection company that raised the rate on the loan to 27% per annum, which rose above the permitted rate in New York of 25% per annum. The

Threats to the stability of the U.S. financial system have grown over the past year, according to the first Financial Stability Report by the Office of Financial Research (OFR) . The report details a number of major risks to the financial markets. They include the following: (i) elevated and rising credit risks, as borrowing fueled by highly accommodative credit and underwriting standards continues to expand, with defaults rising in lower-rated debt issuers and in the energy and commodity markets; (ii) possible financial stability risks imposed by macroeconomic conditions, including lower

The Futures Industry Association ("FIA") announced that it will hold a webinar today to discuss the CFTC's newly proposed rules on automated trading ("Regulation AT"). The webinar, titled "Understanding Reg AT," will take place on December 16, 2015 from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. EST. The webinar will identify market participants that would be impacted by Regulation AT. The FIA stated that proposed Regulation AT would: require certain algorithmic traders to register with the CFTC; require CFTC registrants who engage in automated trading to establish risk controls and comply with rules regarding