FINRA released a podcast summarizing the latest FINRA notices, compliance resources and news from August 2014. The podcast highlighted recent regulatory notices, including: 14-34, regarding the new additional trade reporting requirements in the FINRA Rules 6700 Series and regarding various types of asset-backed securities in FINRA Rule 7730; 14-33, which outlines revisions for the Series 23 and 24 examination programs; and 14-32, which provides an overview of amended FINRA Rule 9210 and addresses the new definition of "Hearing Officer." FINRA also announced that the second-quarter data tables

The CFTC announced the filing and settling of charges against Zulutrade, Inc., a CFTC-registered introducing broker located in Greece, for failing to follow procedures for screening account holders from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's ("OFAC") targeted countries. OFAC administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries based on U.S. foreign policy. According to the CFTC Order, Zulutrade had a procedure to screen potential account holders from OFAC's targeted countries, which provided that Zulutrade could delegate the

On "Market Makers," a Bloomberg program, CFTC Chair Timothy Massad spoke with Peter Cook about various priorities and issues for the CFTC. Chair Massad addressed, among other things, the CFTC's post-Dodd-Frank regulations and FY 2015 budget, and cross-border issues and position limits. Mr. Cook asked Chair Massad whether his technique as Chair will vary from that of his predecessor, Gary Gensler. Chair Massad stated that the CFTC faces different challenges than it did in the Gensler era, and that he plans to "act accordingly." Additionally, Mr. Cook questioned Chair Massad about whether any

The CFTC filed a civil enforcement complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against an attorney whom the CFTC alleges to have willfully aided and abetted multiple clients in their operation of illegal and fraudulent previous metals schemes in violation of the CEA. The CFTC Complaint alleges that the relevant transactions should have been executed on a CFTC-regulated exchange, and that the parties to the transactions never actually owned, possessed or sold any physical metals and so did not qualify for exemption from the exchange-trading requirement. See: CFTC

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued an exemptive letter that allows CPOs to use additional recordkeepers beyond those enumerated in CFTC Rules 4.7(b)(4) and 4.23(c). Such recordkeepers may be used in lieu of maintaining such records at the CPO's main business headquarters. In the letter, DSIO noted that the CPO remains responsible for producing such records upon request by the CFTC and would be liable for any failure to maintain the books and records in the manner prescribed by CFTC Rules. See: CFTC Letter 14-114.