The CFTC extended the no-action relief granted in CFTC Letter 13-41 pertaining to the masking of certain identifying information that is required to be reported. Letter 13-41 provides reporting parties under CFTC Rules Part 20 ("Large Trader Reporting for Physical Commodity Swaps"), Part 45 ("Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements") and Part 46 ("Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements: Pre-Enactment and Transition Swaps") with time-limited no-action relief from requirements to report certain identifying information regarding their counterparties in specific

The SEC granted no-action relief to Banco Santander, S.A. from Exchange Act Regulation M Rule 101 ("Activities by Distribution Participants") and Rule 102 ("Activities by Issuers and Selling Security Holders during a Distribution") in connection with transactions by Banco Santander and its affiliates in or relating to the ordinary shares of Banco Santander during the distribution of the shares in a proposed offering. See: No-Action Letter.

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to inform investors about the features and risks of structured notes. The SEC explained that structured notes are issued by financial institutions whose returns are based on, among other things, other securities and a broad range of types of commodities, including various indices. Common types of structured notes sold to individual investors include principal protected notes, reverse convertible notes, enhanced participation or leveraged notes, and hybrid notes that combine multiple characteristics. The SEC noted

The SEC announced an open meeting on January 14, 2015 at 10 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, to consider whether or not to adopt various rules concerning swap regulation. Specifically, the SEC will consider whether to: adopt rules under the Exchange Act that govern the security-based swap data repository ("SDR") registration process, the duties of such repositories, and the core principles applicable to such repositories; adopt "Regulation SBSR – Reporting and Dissemination of Security-Based Swap Information" ("Regulation SBSR") under the Exchange Act to provide for the regulatory reporting of

The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") issued a study describing the preparedness of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") regarding cybersecurity risks to building and access controls systems in federal facilities. GAO found that the DHS lacks a strategy to (i) define the problem, (ii) identify the roles and responsibilities for securing systems, (iii) analyze the resources needed and (iv) identify a methodology for assessing cyber risks. GAO explained that the DHS has "not effectively" articulated a plan for organizing and prioritizing efforts to address the cyber risks