SIFMA Asset Management Group ("SIFMA AMG") expressed concern that the work carried out by the Financial Stability Board ("FSB") in connection with its peer review process is "at odds with recent indications from the FSB that it is shifting to a products and activities approach in evaluating risk in the asset management industry." In its comment letter, SIFMA AMG urged the FSB to realign its initiatives and allow time for individual regulators with specialized asset management expertise to complete their reviews and evaluate if any additional oversight is warranted. Lofchie Comment : When the

SIFMA released a public statement in support of the framework announced by NYSE and Nasdaq to enhance the resiliency of the closing auction process for U.S. equities, and commended NYSE and Nasdaq for collaborating with each other in developing "a framework designed to benefit the entire market." The plan would be implemented in situations where one of the exchanges is having an outage for technological or other reasons, as was the case in the recent NYSE outage. Moving forward, SIFMA urged the exchanges to work directly with SIFMA in developing the details of the proposal. S ee: SIFMA

In comments submitted to the Department of Labor (“DOL”), the Investment Company Institute ("ICI") argued that the DOL added "a multitude of additional conditions and exclusions" that make the proposed best interest contract exemption ("BIC Exemption") "simply unworkable." In commentary submitted to the DOL, ICI stated that the DOL "must simplify" the BIC Exemption at a minimum by: (i) modifying the proposed exemption's disclosure regime, (ii) eliminating the exemption's required contractual warranties, and (iii) clarifying the required written policies and procedures for avoiding "material

Secretary Jacob J. Lew will preside over an executive session of the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") at the Treasury Department on July 31. The agenda for the meeting will include: (i) discussion of the annual re-evaluations of the designations of certain non-bank financial companies; (ii) an update regarding FSOC's ongoing work on the asset management industry; (iii) an update on market developments; and (iv) discussion of the ongoing examination by member agencies of the structure and participants in the U.S. Treasury market, following the findings in the recent joint staff

The National Credit Union Administration ("NCUA") Board proposed revisions to current regulations regarding prompt corrective action (PCA) that would require credit unions taking certain risks to hold capital commensurate with those risks.One revision would replace the NCUA's current risk-based net worth requirement with a new risk-based capital ratio for federally insured natural person credit unions. S ee: NCUA's PCA Rule Proposal.