CME Clearing Europe ("CME Europe"), CME Group's European clearinghouse, announced that it is the first central counterparty ("CCP") to receive Bank of England approval of the full segregation client protection model with enhanced protection for all bankruptcy scenarios. According to CME Europe, this new client protection model fully segregates collateral with an external custodian at the client level, and is designed to allow the client protection and control of their securities at all times with regard to how client assets would be treated in all bankruptcy scenarios. It is available across

The crisis in Ukraine continued to build last week, as pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's calls to postpone an independence referendum. Though Putin was initially lauded for what was seen as a conciliatory shift, his messages this week were mixed, as he also stated that he had begun to withdraw Russian forces from the Ukrainian border, a claim that was promptly contradicted by U.S. and NATO officials, who reported that they had "seen no change" in Russia's force posture. In addition, Putin appeared in Crimea for the first time as part of the

New SRO rules and rule proposals were announced by the SEC. The National Stock Exchange ("NSX") requested permission to cease trading activity as of the close of business on May 30, 2014 ("Closing Date"). The applicable rule filing does not propose any changes to NSX's ownership structure, nor does it alter NSX's self-regulatory organization ("SRO") responsibilities at this time. In this regard, NSX Rules will remain in effect through and following the Closing Date, and NSX will retain disciplinary jurisdiction over all of its Equity Trading Permit Holders for the foreseeable future. NSX will

Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ), and other House Financial Services Subcommittee Chairmen (the "Representatives") requested that the Financial Stability Board and the Financial Stability Oversight Council provide all memoranda or communiques between the Basel Committee, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors concerning the methodologies used to designate global systemically important financial institutions ("G-SIFIs"). The letter is addressed to Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew

U.S. Treasury Department ("Treasury") officials announced that Hong Kong has agreed in substance to the terms of an Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") implementing FATCA. Hong Kong will adopt a Model 2 type IGA, which will require Hong Kong Financial Institutions to report account information on accounts held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons to the U.S. IRS. The text of the IGA will be made available at the time of its formal execution by the two countries. Hong Kong and the United States recently signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement setting the stage for this IGA. Hong Kong is