In response to routing patterns discovered through the FINRA Order Audit Trail System, the FINRA Trading Examinations Unit is conducting a review of the processes and procedures through which retail brokers route customer orders. FINRA posted an example on its Web site of the "sweep letter" it will send to brokers requesting that each firm provide information in connection with order routing and the execution quality of customer orders in exchange-listed stocks, including information as to: the firm's written supervisory procedures for FINRA Rule 5310 ("Best Execution and Interpositioning")

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") published a final rule in the Federal Register that raises assessments on national banks and federal savings associations ("FSAs") with total assets over $40 billion. Under the rule, the marginal assessment rate for affected national banks and FSAs will increase by 14.5 percent beginning on September 30, 2014. The increase in assessments will range from 0.32 percent to 14 percent, depending on the total assets of the institution, as reflected on its June 30, 2014 Consolidated Report of Condition and Income. The average increase in

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing titled "The Role of Regulation in Shaping Market Structure and Electronic Trading." Panelists discussed the regulation of high-frequency trading and offered proposals for technology improvements. Witnesses at the hearing included representatives from exchanges and other financial institutions, including Citadel LLC, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. and BATS Global Markets, Inc. In general, panelists agreed that high-frequency trading should not be banned, and that technology provides significant benefits to the equity markets. They advocated for

SIFMA, the American Bankers Association, and the Financial Services Roundtable (the "Associations") submitted a letter of support to Chairwoman Feinstein and Vice Chairman Chambliss of the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding the June 17, 2014 draft of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2014 (the "Act"). In the letter, the Associations stated that the Act "strengthens the ability of the private sector and the Federal government to work together to develop a more effective information sharing framework to respond to cyber threats." The Associations asserted that the draft version

The SEC charged Kings Canyon Joint Unified School District ("Kings Canyon") with misleading bond investors about its failure to provide contractually required financial information and notices. The case is the first to be resolved under a new SEC initiative to address materially inaccurate statements in municipal bond offering documents. The SEC found that in the course of a 2010 bond offering, Kings Canyon affirmed to investors that it had complied with its prior continuing disclosure obligations. According to the SEC, this statement was inaccurate because the school district had failed to