The SEC announced that Chief Accountant Paul A. Beswick will leave the agency to return to the private sector. Mr. Beswick served as the SEC Chief Accountant since 2012. He will remain in the Office of the Chief Accountant for a transitional period. See: SEC Press Release.

FINRA issued a regulatory notice to announce the SEC approval of amendments to FINRA rules governing the reporting of (i) OTC transactions in equity securities to the FINRA facilities, and (ii) orders in NMS stocks and OTC equity securities to the Order Audit Trail System ("OATS"). The OATS amendments were implemented April 7, 2014, and the OTC Reporting Facility amendments will be implemented September 15, 2014. Additionally, the implementation date for the requirement related to reporting in milliseconds to the Alternative Display Facility ("ADF") and Trade Reporting Facilities ("TRFs") is

The CFTC issued an order against an interdealer broker - RP Martin Holdings Limited and its subsidiary Martin Brokers (UK) Limited (collectively, "RP Martin") - filing and settling charges of manipulation, attempted manipulation, false reporting, and aiding and abetting derivatives traders' acts of manipulation and attempted manipulation of Yen LIBOR. According to the CFTC Order, brokers on the Yen desk of RP Martin knowingly disseminated false and misleading information concerning Yen borrowing rates to market participants. This action was allegedly done in an attempt to manipulate, at times

The SEC announced that Gina Talamona was named communications director. Prior to joining the SEC, Ms. Talamona served at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Talamona has been a spokesperson for various litigating divisions, developed and implemented media strategies for high-profile law enforcement and policy matters, and has extensive experience working with business media. See: SEC Press Release.

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC in support of a proposal for the adoption of new FINRA Rule 2081, which would prohibit member firms and associated persons from conditioning or seeking to condition the settlement of a dispute with a customer on, or to otherwise compensate the customer for, their agreement to consent to the firm or associated person's request to expunge such customer dispute information from the Central Registration Depository System. According to SIFMA, the proposed rule is "appropriately tailored and designed to discourage the practice of conditioning settlement agreements