The SEC announced that compliance with the final municipal advisor registration rules will not be required until July 1, 2014, the date on which the first set of municipal advisors will be required to register under the final rules. See: Temporary Stay of Final Rule; Press Release. See also: SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Municipal Advisor Registration Rules.

On January 10, 2014, ICE Futures filed with the CFTC proposed amendments to its disciplinary rules. The amendments enable ICE (through its Vice President of Market Regulation) to authorize summary fines of up to U.S.$10,000 for certain infractions related to block trades, including the failure to meet applicable minimum quantity requirements, or the failure of a participant to meet eligible contract participant requirements, and the failure to produce documents and other records requested by authorized Exchange personnel or committees in a timely manner. These rule amendments are scheduled to

According to a recent blog post by the Managed Funds Association ("MFA"), the CFTC is ready to push interest rate and credit swaps onto swap execution facilities ("SEFs"). The approval would follow a three-month review of plans to mandate that certain types of trades be conducted on SEFs. The change, which is required under the Dodd-Frank Act, could take place as soon as next month. CFTC Commissioner O'Malia scheduled an agency advisory committee meeting for January 21, 2014, in order to oversee the trading decision and gather feedback from the industry. See: MFA Blog Post. Related news: MFA

BlackRock and New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, reached an agreement regarding BlackRock's analyst survey that allegedly enabled the firm to obtain market-moving information about companies from research analysts ahead of investors. The agreement includes the termination of the survey program and BlackRock agreed to pay for the attorney general's investigation costs, which amounted to around $400,000. The survey asked analysts questions about management, competition, earnings and other aspects, which Mr. Schneiderman's office determined allowed BlackRock to obtain useful market

The SEC announced a designation of a longer period for commission action regarding a FINRA-proposed rule change relating to TRACE reporting and the dissemination of transactions in additional asset-backed securities. The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register on November 26, 2013; according to the SEC, it only received one comment on the proposal. Accordingly, the SEC announced a longer period for action and stated that it would approve or disapprove the proposed rule change by February 24, 2014.The proposed rule change would amend FINRA Rule 6700, which governs