FINRA issued a regulatory notice about the SEC's recent approval of amendments to the Codes of Arbitration Procedure. The amendments concern an increase to the fees assessed for the late cancelation or postponement of a hearing. FINRA Rules 12214(a), 12601(b)(2), 13214(a) and 13601(b)(2) now will require that if one or more parties request a postponement or cancelation within 10 days before a scheduled hearing session, and the arbitrators grant the request, then the party or parties making the request must pay a late cancelation fee of $600 per arbitrator. The amendments also specify that the

In his remarks at the Brookings Institution, Office of Financial Research ("OFR") Director Richard Berner discussed growth and stability in the financial sector. According to Mr. Berner, the slow healing of the financial system since the crisis "is a key reason why central banks globally continue to deploy both conventional and unconventional monetary policies, and why real, long-term interest rates are at such low levels." In his words, Mr. Berner "touched on" three risks to financial stability: (i) "vulnerabilities associated with market liquidity," (ii) "the migration of financial

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight (the "Division") issued the results of its rule enforcement review of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, Inc. ("MGEX"). The Division evaluated MGEX's compliance with designated contract market ("DCM") Core Principles 2, 3 and 5, as well as CFTC rules related to an exchange's market surveillance program. The review covered a one-year target period. The Division found MGEX's market surveillance program to be in compliance with the assessed DCM Core Principles and CFTC rules. However, the Division also recommended that MGEX (i) consider adopting a hedge

The SEC announced an emergency asset freeze of two U.S. brokerage accounts connected to schemes to manipulate Avon and other stocks. According to the Complaint, the SEC recently tracked a filing on its EDGAR system about a false Avon tender offer to a foreign entity using an IP address located in Sofia, Bulgaria. The filing revealed an account holding a "substantial position" in Avon contracts-for-differences that were losing value in recent months. The SEC alleges that the Bulgarian trader made approximately $5,000 in excess profits by selling almost half of the account's Avon contracts-for

The SEC named Daniel R. Gregus Associate Director for the broker-dealer examination program in its Chicago Regional Office. See: SEC Press Release.