The CFTC announced the appointment of Gretchen Lowe as Principal Deputy Director and Chief Counsel in the CFTC Division of Enforcement (the "Division"). Ms. Lowe was Acting Director of the Division until the recent appointment of Aitan Goelman as Director. Prior to her appointment as Acting Director, Ms. Lowe was the Chief Counsel of the Division. See: CFTC Press Release.

ESMA published its latest updated Q&As regarding the implementation of EMIR. In particular, the updated Q&As address the reporting of collateral and outstanding positions, among other topics. See: Updated ESMA Q&As.

On June 21, 2014, Canada imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and one entity in connection with the ongoing unrest in Ukraine. (Canada's announcements are available here and here.) Each of the individuals and the entity, Feodosia, were previously designated for sanctions by the European Union on May 13, 2014. (Feodosia reportedly is a Crimean subsidiary of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company, and is now in the possession of the territory's Russian administration.) A full list of individuals and entities sanctioned in connection with Ukraine is available here. The designations

The SEC published for comment proposed amendments to regulations under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") to allow the SEC to collect fees that reflect its actual costs, add an appeals time frame, and clarify other issues in the regulations. According to the SEC, the proposed amendments: (i) provide a formula for fees charged to FOIA requesters, (ii) incorporate a time frame in which a FOIA requester must file an appeal in the event a request or a portion thereof is denied, (iii) allow for submission of FOIA appeals by email or facsimile, and (iv) allow the Office of FOIA Services to

The SEC charged a private equity firm with violating "pay-to-play" rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate to gubernatorial and mayoral campaigns. This is the first time the SEC has charged a private equity firm with violating pay-to-play rules. The pay-to-play rules prohibit investment advisers from providing compensatory advisory services for two years following a campaign contribution by the firm or certain associates to political candidates or officials in positions to influence the selection