The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") issued guidance in the form of a Q&A to aid applicants in developing proposals for deposit insurance and to provide transparency in the application process. The FDIC Statement of Policy on Applications for Deposit Insurance ("SOP"), which became effective on October 1, 1998 , provides guidance regarding the application process for deposit insurance. The Q&A covers topics such as pre-filing meetings, processing timelines, initial capitalization and the initial business plans of de novo institutions. The FDIC stated that it could post additional

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations published a majority and minority staff report titled "Wall Street Bank Involvement with Physical Commodities." The report was released in conjunction with hearings, which are scheduled for November 20-21, 2014, regarding the physical commodities activities of bank holding companies. The report focuses on the role of banks and bank holding companies in the physical markets for commodities and related businesses. It presents case studies of the three largest U.S. bank holding company

The NFA issued a Notice to Members regarding the November 12, 2014 FinCEN advisory, which announced that the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") updated its list of jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The NFA recommended that its futures commission merchant and IB members review the advisory, ensuring that their AML programs have the most current information on FATF-identified jurisdictions, and revise their AML programs accordingly. See: NFA Notice I-14-30.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ("HKSAR") signed a Model 2 Intergovernmental Agreement to Implement FATCA ("IGA") with the United States on November 13, 2014. Under the terms of the IGA, the HKSAR will direct all Financial Institutions residing in Hong Kong to register with the U.S. IRS and agree to the terms of a Foreign Financial Institution ("FFI") Agreement with respect to due diligence, reporting and withholding. Hong Kong financial institutions must obtain the consent of holders of new accounts that are identified as U.S. account holders to

The NFA issued a Notice to Members announcing that FINRA will increase its fees for the administration and delivery of the NFA's qualifications examinations on January 1, 2015. On January 1, 2015, the fees will increase as follows: the fee for the Series 3: National Commodity Futures Examination will increase from $115 to $125; and fees for the Series 30: NFA Branch Manager Examination, Series 31: Futures Managed Funds Examination, Series 32: Limited Futures Examination – Regulations, and Series 34: Retail Off-Exchange Forex Examination will all increase from $75 to $80. See: NFA Notice I-14