In a speech before the Consumer Federation of America ("CFA"), SEC Chair Mary Jo White discussed the SEC's role in investor advocacy, and stressed the common goal the SEC and CFA share in their effort to protect retail investors in securities markets. According to Chair White, the majority of American households today are involved in the securities markets through stock or other investment vehicles, noting that retail investment in 2014 remains focused on retirement and education. To protect these investors, Chair White highlighted the importance of the work of the SEC Office of Investor

In a speech at the 2014 Bank of Canada International Economic Analysis Workshop on Financialization of Commodity Markets, Commissioner O'Malia discussed the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act and CFTC regulations on commercial end-users who have historically used the commodity futures and swaps markets for risk mitigation and hedging. In his remarks, Commissioner O'Malia focused on the following: the importance of hedging in the commodity markets, especially given volatile commodity prices; the impact that Dodd-Frank and CFTC reforms have had on hedging in the commodity markets, including the

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight ("DM") issued time-limited no-action relief to trueEX, a designed contract market ("DCM") and temporarily registered swap execution facility ("SEF") from the oral communication recordkeeping requirements of CFTC Rule 1.35(a) ("Records of Commodity, Interest and Related Cash or Forward Transactions"). The letter provides relief to the extent that such requirements apply to commodity trading advisors ("CTAs") that are members of trueEX’s designated contract market (“trueEX DCM”) in connection with the execution of swaps on the trueEX DCM. The relief will

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") issued a time-limited no-action letter extending relief for Multilateral Trading Facilities overseen by competent authorities designated by European Union Member States ("MTFs") from the swap execution facility ("SEF") registration requirement, pursuant to CEA Section 5h(a)(1) ("Swap Execution Facilities") and CFTC Rule 37.3(a)(1) ("Requirements and Procedures for Registration"). Additionally, the letter extends relief to parties executing swap transactions on or pursuant to the rules of MTFs from the trade execution mandate set out in CEA Section

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") provided no-action relief to Mitsui Company Precious Metals, Inc. (“Mitsui”) regarding the annual reporting requirements for chief compliance officers ("CCOs") pursuant to CFTC Rule 3.3 ("Chief Compliance Officer"). In the letter, the CFTC found that given that Mitsui's fiscal year ends on March 31, 2014, and it was only required to register as a swap dealer as of the preceding December 31, it would not provide enough time to prepare and submit a full annual report under CFTC Rule 3.3. The letter allows the CCO to provide an