The SEC issued no-action relief to a German asset management company, MEAG MUNICH ERGO AssetManagement GmbH ("MEAG"), stating that the SEC would not take action if MEAG does not register with the SEC as an investment adviser under Advisers Act Section 203(a) ("Registration of Investment Advisers"). According to MEAG's incoming letter, it is not engaged in the business of "advising others," and only performs asset management and investment advisory services for companies that are wholly owned subsidiaries of MEAG's parent company. Lofchie Comment: It is not particularly clear why the staff

The Asset Management Group of SIFMA ("SIFMA AMG") submitted comments to the CFTC renewing a January 13th request for no-action relief as to the CFTC's compliance date for mandatory trading on SEFs. In response to the CFTC's request for an explanation as to why SEF trading should not be made mandatory, the trade association listed 17 major issues, some of which were both operational and legal (see pages 2-4 of the letter). Lofchie Comment: Craig Pirrong (also known as the Streetwise Professor) describes the mandate for firms to trade on Swap Execution Facilities as the worst provision in Dodd

SIFMA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe ("AFME") issued a joint public statement regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, remarking that "expanding opportunities for financial services providers and their clients in the transatlantic market can only be realized if TTIP includes commitments for regulatory coordination and cooperation." The associations further noted that the week's TTIP meeting offered a critical opportunity to improve the efficiency of regulations across jurisdictions, which each believed would "facilitate and guide efforts

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") released the latest edition of its monthly policy newsletter. This month's stories focus heavily on MFA's advocacy outreach efforts, its contributions to a leading industry research report and other MFA news, including: the SEC's granting MFA's no-action letter to update the definition of "knowledgeable employees" under Investment Company Act rules; MFA's comments to the CFTC on its proposal for position limits on derivatives and proposed rule on aggregation limits; Richard H. Baker's commentary on the state of the hedge fund industry, which was published

FINRA filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend NASD Rule 2340 ("Customer Account Statements") and FINRA Rule 2310 ("Direct Participation Programs") to modify the requirements applicable to members' participation in a public offering of unlisted direct participation programs ("DPPs’") or real estate investment trust ("REIT") securities. The SEC published the rule proposal in the Federal Register (linked below) to solicit comments. Comments are due by March 12, 2014. See: 79 FR 9535.