The SEC issued fee rate advisory #4 for fiscal year 2014, determining that a mid-year adjustment to the Exchange Act Section 31 ("Transaction Fees") fee rate is not required. The Section 31 fee rate will remain at the current rate of $17.40 per million through March 17, 2014. As previously announced, the rate will change to $22.10 per million starting March 18, 2014. This rate will remain in place until September 30, 2014, or 60 days after the enactment of a regular FY 2015 appropriation, whichever is later. The Section 31 assessment on round turn transactions in security futures also will

The SEC reopened the comment period for two releases (No, 33-9117 and No. 33-9244) regarding approaches for the dissemination of potentially sensitive asset-level data. Comments must be received by March 28, 2014. See: 79 FR 11361. Related news: SEC Releases Memo and Reopens Comment Period for Asset-Backed Securities Disclosure Data and Registration (February 25, 2014); Re-proposal of Shelf Eligibility Conditions for Asset-Backed Securities and Other Additional Requests for Comment (August 8, 2011); SEC Approves Amendments to TRACE Relating to Asset-Backed Securities (May 3, 2011) SEC Approves

The House Financial Services S ubcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises held a hearing titled "Equity Market Structure: A Review of SEC Regulation NMS" to discuss Regulation NMS. The following witnesses testified: The Honorable Roel Campos, Partner, Locke Lord LLP; former SEC Commissioner, 2002-2007; Mr. Steven Lofchie, Partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham Taft LLP; Mr. Erik R. Sirri, Professor of Finance, Babson College; former Director of SEC Division of Trading and Markets, 2006-2009; and Mr. Chester Spatt, Professor of Finance, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie

The Government Accountability Office ("GAO") issued a report assessing the CFTC compliance with procedural steps required by Section 801 of Title 5 of the United States Code with respect to conducting a cost benefit analysis of the Volcker Rule. The GAO found that the CFTC complied with the applicable requirements, and did not need to conduct a cost benefit analysis of the new rules regarding proprietary trading. In the report, the CFTC specified that the final Volcker Rule was promulgated exclusively under Bank Holding Company Act Section 13 ("Prohibitions on Proprietary Trading and Certain

The SEC issued approved two FINRA Rule changes and FINRA reproposed one other. The SEC approved the FINRA-proposed rule change to amend the Uniform Branch Office Registration Form ("Form BR") which is used by firms to register their branch office with FINRA, the NYSE, and participating states via the Central Registration Depository. FINRA filed Amendment No. 1 and the SEC granted accelerated approval of the proposed amendments to the rules governing the reporting of: (i) over-the-counter ("OTC") transactions in equity securities to the FINRA facilities, and (ii) orders in NMS stocks and OTC