The SEC granted a waiver to a European bank from ineligible issuer status. The bank's ineligibility was triggered by its criminal conviction for manipulating LIBOR in order to maintain its well-known seasoned issuer ("WKSI") status. The SEC explained that under Securities Act Rule 405, a firm's WKSI status is automatically revoked because of its criminal misconduct absent a waiver from the SEC. In the SEC's waiver order, the SEC determined that the bank "made a showing of good cause" and so would not be considered an ineligible issuer if it complied with the terms of a plea agreement. SEC

SIFMA issued a statement by Managing Director and Co-Head of the Municipal Securities Division Michael Decker in support of Senator Wyden's (D-OR) Move America Act of 2015 (the "Act"). The Act would "amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for Move America bonds and to allow such bonds to be converted into tax credits to support public-private partnerships." Mr. Decker called the bill a "thoughtful approach to bridging the gap between infrastructure funding needs and available resources." He noted that the Act would "leverage" the existing tax-exempt bond market, which he stated is

The CFTC issued a request for comments on large trader reports and related forms. The purpose of the request is to ensure that the CFTC receives enough information to carry out its market and financial surveillance programs effectively. CEA Section 4g imposes reporting and recordkeeping obligations on registered entities and registrants (including futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, floor brokers and floor traders), and requires each registrant to file such reports as the CFTC may require on proprietary and customer positions executed on any board of trade in the United States

The CFTC Division of Clearing and Risk ("Division") issued a letter to Ford Motor Credit Company LLC ("FMCC"). The letter interprets CEA Section 2(h) to mean that a securitization special purpose vehicle ("SPV") that is a wholly owned subsidiary of FMCC (as an entity described CEA in Section 2(h)(7)(C)(iii), the "Captive Finance Company") may use the end user exception from mandatory clearing in Section 2(h)(7)(C)(iii) (the "Captive Finance Exception"). CEA Section 2(h)(7)(C)(iii) permits an entity to use the Captive Finance Exception if it meets the following two-prong test: 1. the entity's

SEC Chair Mary Jo White discussed the SEC's whistleblower program and the SEC's role as "whistleblower's advocate" at the Ray Garrett, Jr. Corporate and Securities Law Institute - Northwestern University School of Law. Chair White commented that the SEC's whistleblower awards program, "while clearly still developing, has proven to be a game changer." She acknowledged that there have always been mixed feelings about whistleblowers, but stated that they provide an "invaluable" public service and should be supported. Chair White explained that administering the whistleblower program has presented