The SEC granted an exemption from Rule 102(a) of Regulation M ("Activities by Issuers and Selling Security Holders during a Distribution") to Jones Lang LaSalle Income Property Trust in connection with conducting a tender offer for its Class M shares. See: SEC Order Granting Exemption.

The SEC adopted new requirements for credit rating agencies to "enhance governance, protect against conflicts of interest, and increase transparency to improve the quality of credit ratings and increase credit rating agency accountability." The new rules and amendments, which implement 14 rulemaking requirements under Dodd-Frank, apply to credit rating agencies registered with the SEC as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations ("NRSROs"). The new requirements for NRSROs address: internal controls; conflicts of interest; the disclosure of credit rating performance statistics

The CFTC issued an order simultaneously filing and settling charges against financial services company FirstRand Bank, Ltd. ("FirstRand") for executing unlawful prearranged and noncompetitive trades on the Chicago Board of Trade ("CBOT"). The order states that, from June 2009 to August 2011, FirstRand and another non-U.S. firm colluded to engage in noncompetitive trades involving corn and soybean futures contracts. Before these trades were entered on CBOT, the two firms called one another to confer upon the contract, quantity, price, direction and timing of the trades. According to the CFTC

The SEC named James Schnurr as its chief accountant. Mr. Schnurr will begin his new post in October and will replace Paul A. Beswick, who has served as the SEC's Chief Accountant since 2012. See: SEC Press Release.

SIFMA submitted comments to the MSRB regarding a revised draft proposal for MSRB Rule G-42 on the standards of conduct and duties of municipal advisors when engaging in municipal advisory activities other than solicitations. While SIFMA praised MSRB's efforts in the revision, SIFMA stated that it still has concerns with certain aspects of the revised proposal. According to SIFMA, the proposed prohibition on principal transactions should only apply to transactions that are directly related to the advice provided by the municipal advisor, rather than transactions that are unrelated to the