The CFTC released its agenda for the upcoming Global Markets Advisory Committee ("GMAC") public meeting scheduled for October 9, 2014. The GMAC meeting will focus on issues related to clearing non-deliverable forwards ("NDFs") and the digital currency, bitcoin. The first panel will discuss whether a clearing mandate is appropriate for NDFs, with a particular focus on how such a mandate would impact foreign exchange contracts. The second panel will discuss the CFTC's jurisdiction with respect to derivatives contracts that reference bitcoins. Se e: CFTC Press Release.

An SEC order to institute proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove a FINRA-proposed rule change regarding the definitions of "non-public" and "public arbitrator" was published in the Federal Register. On July 3, 2014, FINRA published for comment the proposed rule to amend the definitions of "non-public" and "public arbitrator" in the FINRA rulebook. The SEC received 316 comment letters, to which FINRA filed a letter in response. The SEC order will set up procedures to determine whether to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change. See: 79 FR 60556. Related news: FINRA

The IRS announced that it made changes to its online registration procedures to better assist foreign financial institutions in registering with the IRS under FATCA. The system will now permit up to 140 characters to be used for the legal name of the registering entity, including brackets, curly brackets and parentheses. Additionally, registering entities now are able to print or create pdfs of their complete registration files once they have been submitted and accepted. The FATCA Registration User Guide has been revised and reflects several other changes since the last published version

FINRA issued an Information Notice regarding the SEC's extension of current rates for fees paid under Exchange Act Section 31 ("Transaction Fees"). In the Information Notice, FINRA informed its members that the SEC will be operating under a continuing resolution to maintain the current rate of $22.10 per million dollars for securities transactions until December 11, 2014. Se e: FINRA Information Notice. Related news: SEC Issues Second Fee Rate Advisory for Fiscal Year 2015 (September 30, 2014).

University of Houston finance professor Craig Pirrong discussed the ongoing tension between the CFTC and its European counterparts with respect to cross-border issues in his blog post titled "Damage Control at the CFTC." According to Professor Pirrong, the failure on both sides to recognize cross-jurisdictional central counterparty clearinghouses ("CCPs") could make clearing swaps "prohibitively expensive" and increase the "already worrisome fragmentation of swaps markets." Professor Pirrong asserted that European regulators are "dismayed" at U.S. Regulators' "rather imperialistic attitude" on