The SEC announced the largest-ever monetary sanction for violations of Regulation M Rule 105 ("Short Selling in Connection with a Public Offering"). The SEC found that the persons who were charged had engaged in a repeated practice of violations. They were required to pay $7.2 million to settle the charges. Lofchie Comment: It should be obvious by this point that the SEC's technology is quite good at catching violations of Rule 105. Apart from firms like the accused, which was seemingly engaged in systematic violations, other firms should be mindful that they have procedures in place to

Representatives from the SEC and SIFMA released statements on the President's proposed FY 2015 budget. SEC Chair Mary Jo White stated that she is pleased with the President's request for $1.7 billion for the SEC in that it "recognizes the SEC's need for significant additional resources." Additionally, Chair White stated that it is important to point out that the funding "comes from industry transaction fees and does not take money away from other priorities or contribute to the federal deficit." SIFMA CEO and President Kenneth E. Bentsen's statement outlined his concerns with several

The SEC adopted revisions to the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval System ("EDGAR") Filer Manual and related rules to reflect updates to the EDGAR system. The revisions primarily introduce new submission form types MA, MA-A, MA/A, MA-I, MA-I/A, and MA-W to support the registration of municipal advisors. Additionally, various other forms were updated. The system was updated on March 3, 2014. See: Text of Final Rule.

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued a letter providing time-limited no-action relief to commodity pool operators ("CPOs") that requested exemptions regarding annual reports. CFTC Letter 14-24 provides no-action relief to the CPO of a commodity pool from CFTC Rule 4.7(b)(3) ("Relief Available to CPOs") and Rule 4.22(d) ("Reporting to Pool Participants"), both of which require that the CPO distribute to its participants, and file with the National Futures Association ("NFA"), an Annual Report within 90 days of the close of the Pool's fiscal year. The

Ron Wyden (D-ORE), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, announced his leadership team. Mr. Wyden's team includes the following core individuals: Joshua Sheinkman, Staff Director Mr. Sheinkman comes from the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where he held the same position Jocelyn Moore, Deputy Staff Director Ms. Moore comes from Senator Wyden's personal office, where she served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director Mike Evans, Chief Counsel Mr. Evans was previously a partner in the K&L Gates law firm David Berick, Chief Investigator Mr. Berick held the same position for