The MSRB solicited comments on draft rule amendments to Rule G-15 ("Confirmation, Clearance, Settlement and Other Uniform Practice Requirements with Respect to Transactions with Customers") to require broker-dealers and municipal dealers to disclose the mark-up or mark-down on retail customer confirmations for specified principal transactions. The proposed amendments would require disclosure on retail customer confirmations of: the mark-up for principal transactions when the dealer transacts in a municipal security in a specified trade size on the same side of the market as the customer within

The CFTC simultaneously filed and settled charges that a provisionally registered Swap Execution Facility ("SEF") failed to enforce CFTC prohibitions on wash trading and prearranged trading on the SEF's platform in violation of CEA Section 5h(f)(2). The CFTC found that the SEF: offered a non-deliverable forward contract based on the relative value of the U.S. Dollar and Bitcoin for trading; arranged for two market participants to enter into transactions, telling one that the trade would be "to test the pipes by doing a round-trip trade with the same price in, same price out, ( i.e. no P/L

SIFMA recommended modifications to the SEC's internal business conduct standards for security-based swap ("SBS") dealers and major SBS participants. The recommendations are intended to harmonize the FINRA Supervision Rule, the FINRA CCO Rule and the CFTC CCO Rule. In its letter, SIFMA stated that consistency is important because most SBS Entities have already invested significant resources to develop controls and processes, and adopt policies and procedures to comply with those rules. SIFMA argued that harmonization of the rules will allow SBS Entities to leverage existing processes and speed

Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo expressed concerns that global regulators may not be able to reach an accord on the regulation of swaps execution and clearing. He delivered his remarks in a keynote address before the Annual Forex Network in Chicago. Commissioner Giancarlo argued that the made-available-to-trade ("MAT") process, in combination with the CFTC's limited execution method approach, is problematic, and cautioned that it forces swaps to trade through a limited number of execution methods even where a product lacks the liquidity needed to support such trading. Further

In a case involving the ability of a secured creditor to impose obligations on a custodian, SIFMA filed an amicus curiae brief with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals urging affirmation of a decision issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The District Court dismissed an action brought by Forest Capital LLC against BlackRock, Inc. related to BlackRock's actions as custodian of assets for People's Power & Gas LLC ("PP&G"). Forest Capital sued BlackRock for releasing funds to PP&G after PP&G instructed BlackRock to make all future payments to Forest Capital. BlackRock