SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth Bentsen announced a proposed best-interests standard for broker-dealers who serve retail clients. According to Bentsen, SIFMA's proposed best-interests standard is a feasible regulatory response to the DOL's proposed rule relating to the definition of fiduciary under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code. SIFMA stated that for over six years, it has strongly supported FINRA and the SEC's efforts to establish a uniform best-interests standard. According to SIFMA, whenever the DOL considers the adoption of a best-interests standard, that standard should be consistent

SIFMA provided comments to the SEC regarding proposed changes to MSRB Rule G-42 on the duties and standards of conduct of municipal advisors when engaging in advisory activities other than solicitations. SIFMA stated that it believes the MSRB to have "made important strides" in effecting the workability of the proposed rule "without compromising protections to municipal entities, obligated persons, or investors," but still has significant concerns regarding certain aspects of the proposal that "render it unreasonably burdensome and anti-competitive." SIFMA also asserted that the proposed rule

Kraft Foods Group, Inc. ("Kraft") and Mondelēz Global LLC (collectively, the "Firms") filed a motion with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division to dismiss a case stemming from the CFTC's complaint on April 1, 2015. The complaint alleged that the Firms manipulated the prices of cash wheat and wheat futures and attempted to "deceive the market." In the motion to dismiss, the Firms argue that the CFTC failed to prove Kraft's intention to manipulate the wheat cash market by taking long positions in wheat futures. They argue that the CFTC's

The Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA") published an updated edition of its due diligence questionnaire ("DDQ"). The questionnaire is designed to be used by pension funds and other investors when selecting fund-of-hedge-funds managers. The DDQ includes questions related to a management firm's investment philosophy and style, governance practices, operational infrastructure, risk management procedures and potential conflicts of interest.

CFTC Chair Timothy Massad delivered remarks before the Global Exchange and Brokerage Conference. He spoke about the next steps to be taken in certain Dodd-Frank rulemaking initiatives, as well as the CFTC's policy perspectives regarding high-frequency trading ("HFT"). According to Chair Massad, one of the most important priorities regarding the general oversight of major market players will be to look at the swap dealer de minimis threshold. He explained that the CFTC must take data-driven action "well in advance" of the December 2017 date, when the threshold for determining who is a swap