The SEC announced charges against a group of friends, primarily golfing buddies, with trading on inside information about American Superconductor Corporation. According to the complaint, an executive at American Superconductor told a fellow country club member about the firm's expected earnings, contracts, and other major pending corporate developments. Se e: SEC Complaint; SEC Press Release. See also : How to Deal with a Golfer Who Cheats.

The National Futures Association ("NFA") Board of Directors ("the Board") filed a proposed rule change with the CFTC to amend NFA's Articles of Incorporation to increase CPO/CTA representation on its Board. Currently, the Board must include four CPO/CTA representatives, of which at least two must rank in the top 20 percent of funds under management allocated to futures and swaps. The amendment would increase the number of CPO/CTA representatives to five on the Board and require that at least three of these rank within the top 20 percent of funds under management and one rank within the top

FINRA issued a trade reporting notice reminding reporting firms of their obligation to report cancellations of OTC trades reported to a FINRA facility. This obligation applies to all trades reported for publication purposes that ultimately do not clear and settle. This includes, for example, trades that have been declined by the contra party. See: FINRA Notice; FINRA Executive Summary.

FINRA issued a regulatory notice regarding the SEC's approval of amendments to FINRA Rule 2210 ("Communications with the Public"). The immediately effective amendments exclude from filing requirements research reports on exchange-listed securities, other than research reports that must be filed pursuant to Investment Company Act Section 24(b) ("Registration of securities under Securities Act of 1933"). The rule amendments also clarify that fee writing prospectuses that are exempt from filing with the SEC are not subject to FINRA Rule 2210's filing or content standards. The amendments are

The European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published two separate consultation papers seeking comment on draft regulatory technical standards ("RTS") for the clearing of Interest Rate Swaps ("IRS") and Credit Default Swaps ("CDS") under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"). The papers provide explanations on the draft regulatory technical standards establishing a clearing obligation on certain interest rate and OTC derivative classes. They also seek input from stakeholders to help ESMA in finalizing technical standards to be drafted and submitted to the European