The CFTC announced the cancellation of its Technology Advisory Committee ("TAC") public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 21, due to the closure of all Federal government agencies. See: CFTC Press Release. Related News: CFTC Announces Agenda for the TAC Meeting (with Lofchie Comment) (January 16, 2014).

The CFTC announced that it will reopen the comment period for its Concept Release on Risk Controls and System Safeguards for Automated Trading Environments. The comment period is extended until February 14, 2014. The Concept Release was originally published in the Federal Register on September 12, 2013, with a comment period that ended on December 11, 2013. The Release provided an overview of the automated trading environment, including its principal actors, potential risks and responsive measures taken to date by the CFTC or industry participants. It also discussed the following: pre-trade

The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk ("DCR") issued an exemptive letter and an interpretative letter to the North American Derivatives Exchange, Inc. ("Nadex") granting Nadex relief from certain CFTC rules applicable to derivatives clearing organizations ("DCOs"), as well as addressing the applicability of certain regulatory provisions to Nadex. The letters are in response to a request submitted by Nadex on May 1, 2013, which was prompted by the CFTC's 2011 adoption of rules that implemented "core principles" for DCOs. The new rules address issues that arise in connection with a typical

New SRO rules and rule proposals were announced by the SEC. Click on the links below to view the SEC's notices of the rule changes for the week of January 13-17: Trading Rules and Proposals BATS: Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1 Thereto, to Modify the BATS Options Opening Process (see also Exhibit 5) CME: Effective Immediately - Rule Change Regarding Modifications to CME Rule 8G802.B.2 MIAX: Effective Immediately - Rule Change to Modify the Quarterly Options Series Program to Eliminate the Cap on the Number of Additional Series That May Be Listed Per Expiration Month for

The National Futures Association ("NFA") submitted comments to the CFTC regarding the proposed amendment to CFTC Rules Part 170 ("Registered Futures Associations"), which would require all persons registered with the CFTC as introducing brokers ("IBs"), commodity pool operators ("CPOs"), and commodity trading advisors ("CTAs") to become members of a registered futures association ("RFA"); i.e., the NFA. According to the comment letter, NFA agreed with the CFTC's analysis that given the unique nature of the swaps markets, IBs, CPOs, and CTAs engaging in swap transactions with clients may not be