In conjunction with President Obama's State of the Union address to Congress, the White House issued a Fact Sheet that proposed raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28% and ending the "stepped-up basis" rule for the "wealthiest" Americans. It also proposed the imposition of a seven-basis-point fee on the liabilities of large U.S. financial institutions with assets over $50 billion. According to the Fact Sheet, revenue from such changes would be used to increase funding for new earned income credits, expanded child care credits and increased credits for college education. Under current

The SEC announced that Norm Champ, Director of the Division of Investment Management, will leave the agency later this month. Upon his departure from the SEC, Mr. Champ will become a Visiting Scholar for Spring Term 2015 at Harvard Law School, where he also is a lecturer on a biennial basis and teaches a course on investment management law. Lofchie Comment : With Director Champ's departure, the SEC will lose someone with significant experience and expertise, both in and out of government. Se e: Press Release.

Speaking before the Futures Industry Association in Japan, CFTC Chair Massad reiterated various cross-border initiatives that he had discussed in a previous speech in Hong Kong. Chair Massad identified the clearinghouse initiative as important, explaining that, as regulators require more firms to engage in clearing financial products, steps must be taken to ensure that clearinghouses do not pose a systemic risk. According to Chair Massad, regulators should not require all swaps to be cleared and, therefore, should set margin requirements for certain uncleared swaps. He stated that he is

CFTC Commissioner Sharon Bowen issued a statement in which she urged the CFTC to "seriously consider" enhancing the regulations of retail foreign exchange dealers. The statement concerned recent activity in the retail foreign exchange markets. Commissioner Bowen expressed concerns about "recent unsettling events" involving financial difficulties at retail foreign exchange dealers after the Swiss National Bank's policy change regarding the Swiss franc. She explained that the retail foreign exchange industry is the "least regulated" part of the derivatives industry, and that "lower standards are

The FINRA proposal to extend the expiration date of FINRA Rule 0180 ("Application of Rules to Security-Based Swaps") to February 11, 2016 was published in the Federal Register. Generally, the extension has the effect of disapplying most of FINRA's rules to security-based swaps, even though such swaps are "securities" for purposes of the Securities Exchange Act. FINRA explained that it is "appropriate and in the public interest" to extend Rule 0180 in order to "avoid undue market disruptions resulting from the change of the definition of 'security'" under the Securities Exchange Act, at least