The SEC has issued a notice soliciting comments on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's ("PCAOB") proposed amendments to conform the PCAOB's rules and forms to Dodd-Frank and to make certain updates and clarifications. The PCAOB filed the proposed rules with the SEC on December 23, 2013. The amendments apply to the PCAOB's Interim Quality Control Standards as well as its Ethics Code. See: SEC Notice and Text of Proposed Rules.

The U.S. Senate voted (56-26) to confirm Janet Yellen as the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See: White House Statement; SIFMA Statement; MFA Statement.

The Loan Syndications and Trading Association, SIFMA, the Structured Finance Industry Group, the American Bankers Association, and the Financial Services Roundtable (together, the "Trade Associations") have sent an additional letter to federal regulators requesting that they clarify how certain provisions in the recently issued "Volcker Rule" regulations apply to "Ownership Interests" in debt securities of issuers of collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs"). As in the letter submitted on December 24, 2013, the Trade Associations request that the regulators confirm that "ownership interest"

District Judge Paul Friedman of the D.C. District Court issued a long-awaited opinion in the ongoing lawsuit filed by SIFMA, ISDA, and the Institute of International Bankers (the "Associations") against the CFTC Cross-Border Guidance. The Associations filed the lawsuit on December 4, 2013, seeking to vacate the CFTC Cross-Border Guidance on procedural and substantive grounds. The lawsuit alleged that the CFTC unlawfully circumvented the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act and the CEA by portraying its regulations as "guidance." Judge Friedman said the CFTC was well within its

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") has announced a civil money penalty against JPMorgan Chase for AML violations, including failure to report suspicions about Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC to U.S. law enforcement and regulators. See: OCC Press Release.