Mercatus Scholars and Senior Research Fellows Hester Peirce and Jerry Ellig published a study titled "SEC Regulatory Analysis: 'A Long Way to Go and a Short Time to Get There,'" which explores the SEC's use of economic analysis in seven major final rules before, and one major rule after, the issuance of its March 2012 staff economic analysis guidance. According to the study, Congress requires the SEC to conduct economic analysis to determine whether new rules are in the public interest. The study mentions that Federal appeals courts recently vacated several SEC rules due to inadequate economic

According to a recent blog post by the Managed Funds Association ("MFA"), the CFTC is planning to require European swaps trading platforms to implement a series of new compliance measures. MFA noted (citing an article in the Wall Street Journal) that the new compliance measures are in exchange for exemption from having to register with the CFTC, and are aimed to ensure that U.S. firms trading swaps offshore adhere to rules like those in the U.S. See : MFA Blog Post; Wall Street Journal Article. Related News: CFTC Issues No-Action Relief for Swaps Trading on Multilateral Trading Facilities

The Futures Industry Association ("FIA") Principal Traders Group issued a statement in anticipation of the release of Flash Boys, a book by Michael Lewis that describes some of the recent developments in electronic trading and market structure in the U.S. equity markets. FIA stated that it hopes "the book will draw attention to the dramatic changes in trading technology that have occurred in U.S. equity markets as well many other markets worldwide." According to FIA, the use of high-frequency trading tools has contributed to substantial improvements in market quality that have benefited

Members of the House Representatives and tech entrepreneurs met to discuss the impact of variety of issues related to data, including the recently passed H.R. 4164, according to the Data Transparency Coalition ("DTC"). The DTC stated that the U.S. Senate is poised to act on its version of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act ("DATA Act"), which was shepherded through the House of Representatives last November (388-1) by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). The DATA Act would mandate the implementation of government-wide data standards for public information on federal spending. Additionally

CFTC Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen, and Office of Financial Research ("OFR") Director Richard Berner, announced a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") outlining the terms and conditions under which the CFTC and OFR will begin a joint project to enhance the quality, types and formats of data collected from registered swap data repositories. The MOU establishes a process for assessing the quality of the data, and that assessment will form the basis for the subsequent development of a project plan for understanding swaps and other OTC derivative transactions and their impact on financial stability