The SEC announced that two exchanges (the "Exchanges") violated Sections 19(b)(1) and 19(g)(1) of the Exchange Act by failing to describe their order types completely. In particular, the Exhanges were charged with (i) failing to file proposed rules and rule changes that completely and accurately described how certain order types operated and impacted order handling and trading on the Exchanges, and (ii) failing to comply with the Exchanges' own rules by offering order types, which were not completely and accurately described in the rules approved by the SEC. An SEC investigation found that

The SEC extended previous no-action relief provided to broker-dealers in 2013 under Exchange Act Rule 17a-8 ("Financial Recordkeeping and Reporting of Currency and Foreign Transactions") if a broker-dealer relies on a registered investment adviser to perform some or all of its customer identification program obligations. In February 2004, the SEC Division of Trading and Markets (the "Division"), in consultation with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, issued a letter stating it would not recommend enforcement action to the SEC if a broker-dealer treated a registered investment adviser as

The SEC issued an exemption from Exchange Act Rule 14e-5 ("Prohibiting Purchases Outside of a Tender Offier") for iShares Commodities Select Strategy ETF. The exemption permits a Market Participant Covered Person (as defined in the incoming letter) participating in a tender offer for a security in which the Fund invests to: (i) redeem Shares in Creation Unit size aggregations for Fund Securities; (ii) engage in secondary market transactions in Shares after the first public announcement, given certain conditions; (iii) make purchases or arrangements to purchase subject securities in the

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC regarding the proposed national market system ("NMS") plan to implement a tick size pilot, filed with the SEC by U.S. equity securities exchanges and FINRA. SIFMA stated that while it supported a pilot program exploring how a wider tick size might benefit small cap issuers, it expressed concern regarding a pilot that would prohibit trading between the wider quoting increments. Additionally, according to SIFMA, for a pilot program to be successful it must establish clearly stated metrics for use in evaluating the results of the pilot and determining whether

Recently-selected Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), announced his senior staff selections for the committee. See: Senate Ag Committee Press Release.