Timothy W. Cameron, Managing Director and Head of SIFMA's Asset Management Group ("AMG"), published a blog post disputing the assertion by the Financial Services Oversight Council (better known as the FSOC) that asset managers may pose systemic risk and the larger asset management firms might be designated as subject to the additional regulatory burdens applicable to systemically significant firms. Mr. Cameron identified key ways in which asset managers differ from other financial institutions. First, he stated that asset managers invest money on behalf of their investor clients, serving as

SIFMA announced the finalization of its model documents and related guidance to help broker-dealers and other financial institutions comply with the new regulatory requirements created by the SEC Municipal Advisor Rule. The Municipal Advisor Rule, which is effective on July 1, 2014, imposes a registration regime upon municipal advisors and a fiduciary duty upon municipal advisors that give advice to municipal entities. According to SIFMA, the model disclosures are designed to be a starting point to assist firms coming into compliance with the rule. SIFMA also announced that it will host a

The Tax Executives Institute, Inc. ("TEI"), the professional association of in-house tax managers and professionals, provided the IRS with written comments on the Proposed and Temporary Regulations issued by the IRS and Treasury in February that made substantial modifications to the Final FATCA Regulations, as well as comments on the Proposed and Temporary Regulations issued in February that coordinated the FATCA withholding rules with the preexisting income tax and reporting rules. TEI noted that foreign holding companies and treasury centers of an Expanded Affiliated Group ("EAG") can be

The SEC announced charges against three friends and business associates of the former Chairman of the Board at Home Diagnostics Inc., for trading on the basis of inside information about an impending acquisition of the company following a tip from the Chairman. The release notes that the Chairman pled guilty to a criminal charge. See: Litigation Release. Click here to view the Cabinet's Insider Trading Materials (accessible to Cabinet subscribers only).

CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O'Malia delivered the keynote address at the Tabb Forum event, focusing on recent market structure changes. Commissioner O'Malia focused his remarks on three key topics, high-frequency trading/algorithmic trading, cross-border issues, and the Path Forward Guidance, that have been impacted by the transformation of market structure, and the ways in which the CFTC can fix the negative impacts of its rules. Commissioner O'Malia noted that Michael Lewis' recent book Flash Boys stirred up debate about HFT and market structure. Commissioner O'Malia disagreed with Mr. Lewis'