In light of recent CFTC-proposed rulemaking on the cross-border treatment of margin rules for uncleared swaps, SIFMA urged prudential regulators to reconsider the CFTC's rule proposal when deciding how to finalize the cross-border application of their own margin rules. The "prudential regulators" mentioned in the comment letter are the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Farm Credit Administration. In its comment letter, SIFMA criticized the CFTC's

ISDA, the European Federation of Energy Traders ("EFET") and the Futures Industry Association ("FIA") issued a joint position paper. The paper recommends an extension of three years for the two "key" exemptions for commodity dealers ( i.e., "the own capital and the large exposure exemptions") that are contained within Articles 493 and 498 of the Capital Requirements Regulation ("CRR"). The paper also calls for an in-depth analysis of the potential impact of extending the capital regulation to commodity firms. See: Joint Position Paper: " The Potential Impact of Extending the Capital

Republican members of the Financial Services Committee ("FSC") voiced their uniformly negative views on the effects of the Dodd-Frank Act since its inception. See: Remarks of Republican FSC Members.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations passed the FY 2016 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill. The bill passed in a close 16-14 vote. The bill funds the SEC at $1.5 billion and CFTC at $250 million, the same level of funding provided to the agencies in FY 2015. The bill includes provisions to increase oversight of the CFPB by changing the funding process for the agency. Under the bill, future funding would be through the annual congressional appropriations process rather than through the Federal Reserve. The legislation also would transform the CFPB into an agency

Financial Services Committee ("FSC") Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered the opening remarks at an FSC hearing on capital and liquidity standards. Chair Hensarling stated that "relying on regulators to calibrate risk and predict future economic conditions according to highly complex models - models that neither market participants nor regulators themselves fully understand - clearly appears to be a recipe for financial crisis." See: Chair Hensarling on Capital Standards: Is There a Better Way?