The Federal Reserve Bank of New York ("NY Fed") announced that David Cote, CEO and Chairman of Honeywell International, was elected to serve as a Class B director. Mr. Cote was elected by members of Group 2, a classification for banks with capital and surplus of $30 million to $1 billion, to represent the public. His term ends December 31, 2016. As required by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, each of the Reserve Banks operates under the supervision of a board of nine directors who represent the interests of their Reserve District. These nine directors are divided evenly by classification

The U.S. Securities Markets Coalition (the "Coalition"), an industry group which includes all of the options exchanges in the United States as well as the Options Clearing Corporation, expressed serious concerns about the application of proposed regulations issued under Section 871(m) relating to the imposition of U.S. withholding tax on "dividend equivalents" to exchange-traded options (also referred to as "listed options") that reference dividend-paying stocks and indexes of stocks, other than certain "qualified indexes." In a March 5 letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, the Coalition

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") issued an interim final rule that makes technical and conforming amendments to its capital regulations. The interim final rule, which is effective March 31, 2014, makes various amendments so that the OCC's rules are consistent with the recently adopted Basel III Capital Framework by providing cross-references to new capital rules and, where necessary, deleting obsolete rules. The interim final rule also makes changes to subordinated debt rules to clarify the requirements subordinated debt must meet and the procedures required to issue and

Finland and Chile each signed Intergovernmental Agreements ("IGAs") under FATCA with the United States on March 5. Finland agreed to a Model 1A (Reciprocal) form of agreement under which Finnish Financial Institutions will be required to report information about accounts held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons to Finland's tax administration, which will in turn forward such information to U.S. tax authorities. Annex II to the Finnish IGA makes it clear that Finnvera Oyj – Finnvera plc, Vientiluotto Oy – Finnish Export Credit Ltd, and Kuntarahoitus Oyj – Municipality Finance plc are each

The CFTC Divisions of Clearing and Risk ("DCR") and Market Oversight ("DMO") issued two no-action letters to certain affiliated counterparties. In CFTC Letter 14-25, the DCR issued a no-action letter extending the time-limited exemption contained in the alternative compliance frameworks available to certain affiliated counterparties pursuant to CFTC Rule 50.52(b)(4)(ii)-(iii) ("Exemption for Swaps Between Affiliates"). On April 11, 2013, the CFTC published a final rule providing an exemption from required clearing for swaps between certain affiliated entities, subject to specific requirements