The CFTC issued an order against two companies for their attempted manipulation of natural gas monthly index settlement prices during periods known as "bid-weeks." According to the order, during bid-weeks in September 2011, October 2011, March 2012, and April 2012, the companies attempted to manipulate monthly index settlement prices of natural gas at four hubs. The companies' trading accounted for a substantial percentage of the total market by volume at the relevant hubs, even though the companies had no material customer business, assets or transportation at the hubs. Through this fixed

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Puerto Rico v. Franklin California Tax-Free Trust. The case considers whether Chapter 9 ("Adjustments of Debts of a Municipality") of the Federal Bankruptcy Code preempts a Puerto Rico statute that creates a mechanism for the commonwealth's public authorities to restructure their debts. Since 1984, the federal Bankruptcy Code has precluded Puerto Rico from restructuring municipal debt under Chapter 9 of the Code. The petitioners assert that there is no basis "to conclude that the exclusion of Puerto Rico from Chapter 9 represents a limitation on the

President Obama signed the "Surface Transportation and Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015" (H.R. 22) (the "FAST Act") into law. The act includes a number of financial services provisions in Titles LXXI to LXXXVI (Titles 71-86). Provisions that affect the JOBS Act include the following: Title LXXI - "Improving Access to Capital for Emerging Growth Companies" ("EGC") - (i) reduces the time during which an EGC must wait to conduct a road show after filing documents confidentially with the SEC from 21 days to 15 days, (ii) effectively extends the time during which an issuer may be treated as

In a paper titled Central Clearing: Trends and Current Issues, Bank for International Settlements (BIS) officials identified increased systemic risks due to central clearing. Head of Policy Analysis Dietrich Domanski, Research Adviser Leonardo Gambacorta and Secretariat of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures Cristina Picillo discussed the implications of central clearing for the financial system under normal and stressed conditions. The paper identified potential risks regarding central clearing that included the following: (i) Whether central counterparties (CCPs) might

FINRA released a monthly recap podcast that summarized its latest notices, compliance resources and news from November 2015. The podcast covers the following recent developments: Notices Effective November 30, 2015, FINRA will require the electronic submission of subordination approval requests (FINRA Reg. Notice 15-42). FINRA filed a rule with the SEC for authority to designate firms for mandatory participation and FINRA's business continuity and disaster recovery testing as required by Regulation SCI. The rule also sets up standards for the annual testing (FINRA Reg. Notice 15-43). FINRA and