The CFTC Division of Market Oversight issued a no-action letter to extend further its previous relief to swap dealers ("SDs") and major swap participants ("MSPs") from the obligation to report valuation data for cleared swaps. The no-action letter provides that the CFTC will not take action against an SD or MSP for failure to comply with the requirements of CFTC Rule 45.4(b)(2)(ii) to report valuation data. The relief applies to all SDs and MSPs that are reporting counterparties under Rule 45.8, for the purposes of Rule 45.4(b)(2)(ii), and all cleared swaps for which the SD or MSP has an

The SEC issued guidance regarding business development companies with wholly owned small business investment company ("SBIC") subsidiaries. In the guidance, the SEC stated that certain business development companies ("BDCs") file exemptive applications for relief from asset coverage requirements under Investment Company Act Section 18(a) and Section 61(a), which requires a BDC to treat assets and liabilities of certain subsidiaries as its own for purposes of calculating asset coverage. Subsidiary SBICs presumably would be captured within this consolidation rule. However, the SEC has generally

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), along with 19 other Senate Democrats, introduced legislation ( S.2548) that would force the CFTC to use its emergency authority to eliminate excessive oil speculation. The Senators accused oil companies of using unrest in Iraq as an excuse to drive up crude oil and gasoline prices. According to Senator Sanders, "high gasoline prices have less to do with supply and demand and more to do with Wall Street speculators driving up prices in the energy futures market." The proposed bill is virtually identical to legislation that passed the House of Representatives in

The IRS issued technical corrections to two sets of regulations relating to FATCA. The first set provides a variety of corrections to the final and temporary regulations issued under FATCA on March 6, 2014, and relates to information reporting by foreign financial institutions ("FFIs") on U.S. accounts and on withholding on certain payments to FFIs. The second set corrects final and temporary regulations that were also issued on March 6, 2014 to coordinate regulations relating to income tax withholding, information reporting and backup withholding to the FATCA regulations. The corrections are

The withdrawal of proposed FINRA Rule 2243 on disclosure and reporting obligations related to recruitment practices was published in the Federal Register. The proposed rule was published for public comment on March 28, 2014. The SEC received 189 comments on the proposal. Lofchie Comment: FINRA is expected to resubmit a revised version of the rule after reviewing the comments. See: 79 FR 36855. Related news: SIFMA Submits Comments to the SEC on FINRA's Proposal on Disclosure and Reporting Obligations Related to Recruitment Practices (April 17, 2014); FINRA-Proposed Rule Regarding Disclosure and