Three legislative proposals to amend the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") have been introduced in the House. All three bills focus on specific parts of the CEA. H.R. 677 - "Inter-Affiliate Swap Clarification Act" - would exempt swaps between certain affiliated entities within a corporate group and swaps between companies or subsidiaries that share some level of common ownership from the clearing and trade execution requirements of CEA Section 2(h), and applicable margin and capital requirements of CEA Section 4s(e). The bill would also clarify that, for purposes of defining "swap dealer" or

The SEC charged a former analyst at an affiliate of S.A.C. Capital Advisors with insider trading based on non-public information that he obtained about a pair of technology companies. The SEC alleged that Ronald N. Dennis received illegal tips from two friends who were fellow hedge fund analysts. With the non-public information, Dennis prompted illegal trades in Dell and Foundry stock, and enabled hedge funds managed by S.A.C. Capital and its affiliate, CR Intrinsic Investors, to generate illegal profits and avoid significant losses. See: SEC Complaint.

The Mercatus Institute, a public policy research center affiliated with George Mason University, released a paper by Dr. Adam Ozimek, Director of Research and Senior Economist at Econsult Solutions, Inc., entitled "The Regulation and Value of Prediction Markets," which examines the role, purpose and performance of "prediction markets" that allow participants to buy and sell contracts on specific events, such as the outcome of presidential elections. The paper finds that such markets are important information-aggregation tools for researchers, businesses, individuals, and governments and have

The CFTC published in the Federal Register a correction regarding the November 2013 final rules enhancing customer protections with funds held by futures commodities merchants ("FCMs") and derivatives clearing organizations ("DCOs"). The correction amends Appendix E to Part 30 to fix a typographical error. Specifically, the phrase "lines or credit" should read "lines of credit." See: 79 FR 14174. Related news: CFTC Publishes Final Rules Enhancing Customer Protections (Fed. Reg.) (November 14, 2013).

SIFMA submitted comments to the SEC on FINRA's proposed rule change to NASD Rule 2340 ("Customer Account Statements") involving per share estimated values of unlisted Direct Participation Programs ("DPPs") and Real Estate Investment Trusts ("REITs") on customer account statements.SIFMA stated that, since the FINRA-proposed rule change creates "a presumption of reliability for net investment or independent valuation methodologies which apparently may be rebutted by other facts," it is necessary that the text of the proposed rule be amended to reflect the "reasonably believe is reliable"