The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued three letters exempting CPOs from the requirement to have an independent public accountant audit the financial statement of the pool's annual report pursuant to CFTC rules 4.7(b)(3)(i) and 4.22(d). These exemptions are applicable to the fiscal year ending on December 31, 2013.

The CFTC issued no-action relief to an entity and its affiliates for their roles as CPOs and/or CTAs of "volumetric product payment vehicles." According to the letter, these "vehicles" issued debt or debt-like instruments and used swaps to hedge commodity market risk and interest rate exposure. According to the CFTC, because of the inclusion of swaps as a commodity interest within the definition of a commodity pool under CEA Section 1a(10), such vehicles may be classified as commodity pools; however, their operators and advisors are not required to register given the limited purpose for which

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") issued a financial institution letter ( FIL 41-2014) clarifying its supervisory approach to institutions establishing account relationships with third-party payment processors ("TPPPs"). See: Financial Institution Letter: FIL 41-2014.

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Alert to warn investors about fraudsters who may attempt to manipulate share prices by using social media to spread false or misleading information about stocks. According to the Investor Alert, fraudsters can spread both positive and negative rumors about stocks through social media. In a "pump-and-dump" scheme, promoters "pump" up the stock price by spreading positive rumors to incite a buying frenzy, and then quickly "dump" their own shares before the hype ends. In other instances, fraudsters start negative rumors urging

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC in support of the FINRA-proposed rule change regarding the definitions of non-public arbitrator and public arbitrator. According to SIFMA, the stated purpose of FINRA's proposal is to address concerns about arbitrator neutrality. The rule change would provide that persons who worked in the financial industry for any duration during their careers would always be classified as non-public arbitrators, and persons who represent investors or the financial industry as a significant part of their business would also be classified as non-public arbitrators, but