CFTC Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen and Commissioner Michel Barnier of the European Commission ("EC") announced at the Global Markets Advisory Committee meeting that there has been "significant progress" toward harmonizing the regulatory framework for CFTC-regulated swap execution facilities ("SEFs") and EU-regulated multilateral trading facilities ("EU MTFs"). The CFTC staff subsequently released two related no-action letters intended to implement the "Path Forward" statement issued by the regulators in July 2013, under which the regulators had agreed to work together. CFTC Letter 14-15 provides

The SEC announced that two Hong Kong-based asset management firms, whose accounts were frozen in a major insider trading case, have agreed to pay nearly $11 million to settle the charges against them. The SEC obtained an emergency asset freeze in July 2012 against unknown traders just days after the announcement that China-based CNOOC Ltd. had agreed to acquire Canadian energy company Nexen Inc., causing more than a 50-percent spike in the price of Nexen shares.The SEC filed the emergency action after discovering that traders using brokerage accounts in Hong Kong and Singapore stood to make

The SEC announced that Michael F. Maloney has been named as the new chief accountant in the SEC Division of Enforcement. Mr. Maloney joins the SEC's enforcement staff from Navigant Consulting, Inc., where he is currently a managing director and oversees the firm's forensic accounting practice. He will begin work at the SEC later this month. See: SEC Press Release.

SIFMA submitted a letter to Congress urging members to support the Small Cap Liquidity Reform Act of 2013 ( H.R. 3348). In the letter, SIFMA commended Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) for putting forth a proposal that could, SIFMA asserted, improve the trading liquidity of small cap stocks.The legislation, according to SIFMA, would establish an SEC pilot program that widened the quoting increment for a basket of stocks from a penny to a nickel or dime. Additionally, the Act has a "Manager's Amendment" which would allow the SEC to determine whether a trading restriction on small cap stocks was

The European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") issued an updated Q&A on the implementation of the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"). The updated Q&A clarifies issues related to reporting to trade repositories ("TRs"), including: how to construct and generate Unique Trade Identifiers ("UTI"); the reporting of empty/not available fields; and UPI taxonomy. Other areas covered by the updated Q&A include OTC derivatives and CCP requirements.