The SEC announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze against a transfer agent and its owner whose misappropriation scheme was exposed during an SEC examination of the firm. According to the SEC complaint, IST Shareholder Services and its owner were misusing money, which belonged to their corporate clients and the clients' shareholders, in order to fund their own payroll and business obligations. See: SEC Complaint; SEC Press Release.

The SEC proposal to establish a new system of maintaining its records, "General Information Technology Records (SEC-67)," was published in the Federal Register. Additionally, the SEC proposed the revision of two existing systems of internal records: "Office of the Chief Accountant Working File (SEC-28)," last published in the Federal Register on September 11, 1997, and "Office of Inspector General Investigative Files (SEC-43)," last published in the Federal Register on June 1, 2006. According to the SEC, the purpose of SEC-67 is to provide additional authentication and authorization to

The National Futures Association ("NFA") filed a proposed rule change with the CFTC to reduce assessment fees from $.02 per side to $.01. The rule change would amend NFA Bylaw 1301 to reduce the assessment fees that FCM Members are required to pay to the NFA. If approved by the CFTC, the new fees will be effective as of October 1, 2014. See: NFA Notice to Members 1-14-12; Text of Proposed Rule Change.

The Futures Industry Association ("FIA") issued an updated version of its guide to the rules and regulations of customer fund protections in the United States. The guide, which was first issued in February 2012, explains the protections for customer funds held as collateral for futures and options traded on U.S. and foreign exchanges, as well as collateral for cleared swaps. The updated guide reflects the amendments to the CFTC's rules that were adopted in November 2013 to enhance customer protections. It also reflects new rules governing the protection of collateral for cleared swaps that

FINRA issued an investor alert, titled "High-Yield CDs: Red Flags That Signal a Scam," that warns investors to be wary of promotions advertising certificates of deposit ("CDs") that promise "substantially higher" interest rates than current averages. The alert enumerates flags that could signal a scam, including: interest rates that are significantly higher than average; promotions that claim to be from a U.S. financial institution that has aligned with an international bank; emails with addresses that do not originate from and were not sent by the financial institution that is cited in the