SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher gave a speech before the Institute of International Bankers about regulatory capital requirements and, in particular, the differences between broker-dealer and bank capital requirements. Commissioner Gallagher explained that one of the primary differences between bank and broker-dealer capital requirements is how risk is viewed and handled; bank capital requirements serve to "reduce risk and protect against failure," while broker-dealer capital requirements seek to manage risk and the corresponding potential for failure by providing enough cushioning to

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury requesting that the IRS and the Treasury extend the March 5 applicability date in the proposed rules to implement Section 871(m) of the Tax Code. Section 871(m) imposes withholding taxes on dividend equivalent payments made to non-U.S. investors that acquire certain U.S. equity-linked instruments. MFA requested the extension of the applicability date so that concerns about the broad scope of the rule and its potential adverse consequences on U.S. markets could be considered more fully as part of the public comment process

Mary Miller, Acting Deputy Secretary and Under Secretary for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, gave a speech before the Institute of International Bankers discussing recent and ongoing financial regulatory reform efforts. Ms. Miller highlighted several "significant milestones" achieved by domestic regulators in 2013, including: progress on Basel III capital requirements, particularly the finalization of the Basel Committee's risk-based capital requirements, which are intended to increase both the quantity and quality of regulatory capital held by banks; the designation

FINRA announced that the effective date for a new rate for fees paid under Exchange Act Section 31 ("Transaction Fees") will be March 18, 2014. FINRA stated that the Section 31 fee rate which is applicable to specified securities transactions on the exchanges and in the over-the-counter markets will increase from its current rate of $17.40 per million dollars in transactions to a new rate of $22.10 per million dollars in transactions. The new rate will remain in place until September 30, 2014, or 60 days after the enactment of a regular Fiscal Year 2015 appropriation, whichever is later. See

The MSRB filed with the SEC a proposed rule change regarding MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access System ("EMMA") Real-Time Transaction Reporting System ("RTRS") and Short-Term Obligation Rate Transparency System ("SHORT System") to amend several of its data subscription products and services, as well as to make other technical amendments. Starting on April 1, 2014, the following annual fee increases will occur: the MSRB's Real-Time Transaction Data Subscription Service will go from $10,000 to $11,000; the Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service will go from $5,000 to $5,500