Pressure continues to mount on Russia and its Ukrainian allies following Russia's move to annex the Crimean peninsula, with Japan and Australia joining the United States, the European Union and Canada in announcing sanctions. Japan's foreign minister announced on Tuesday, March 18, that it was suspending talks with Russia on an investment deal and the relaxation of visa requirements, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned on Wednesday that additional sanctions may follow. Meanwhile, Australia announced on Wednesday that it would impose travel bans and asset freezes against eight Russians and

In a speech at an Insider Trading symposium hosted by the New York Law School, Attorney General Eric. T. Schneiderman ("A.G. Schneiderman") called for tougher regulations and market reforms to address the "unfair advantages commonly provided to high-frequency trading firms at the expense of other investors." & In his remarks, A.G. Schneiderman detailed a number of services that trading venues offer to high-frequency traders ("HFTs"), including, but not limited to: allowing traders to locate their computer servers within the trading venues themselves; providing extra network bandwidth to HFTs

The CFTC requested public comment on the swap data recordkeeping and reporting requirements under CFTC Rules Part 45 and related provisions. Part 45 requires reporting counterparties and entities to submit swap transaction data to swap data repositories via electronic reporting to enable the CFTC to perform a range of market integrity, risk monitoring and other supervisory functions. The request for comment, which was developed by the newly created CFTC Interdivisional Working Group, seeks public input on approximately 70 questions addressing topics such as: the reporting of primary economic

The CFTC charged Bradley A. Miklovich, a former senior commodities analyst for Rice Investment Company ("Rice"), with commodity futures fraud. The Complaint alleges that, from July 23, 2013 through July 30, 2013, Miklovich placed trades for more than 2,000 commodity futures and options contracts for two customers' non-discretionary accounts without authorization to place those trades. Miklovich concealed his unauthorized trading from Rice by preparing for the firm phony daily reconciliations that failed to account for the unauthorized trades that he placed. The Complaint also states that

In a speech before the Investment Company Institute 2014 Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, Craig Lewis, SEC Chief Economist and Director of the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis ("DERA"), discussed the economic analysis conducted by the SEC in rule proposals and analyses. Director Lewis explained that the 2012 Memorandum Current Guidance on Economic Analysis in SEC Rulemaking ("Memo") outlines the SEC's approach to "robust" economic analysis. Additionally, Director Lewis said that the Memo "states the fundamental precept that economists are part of the rulemaking process