ICE Clear U.S. issued its processing schedule for Martin Luther King Day, January 20: the processing of transactions in PTMS and ACT should be completed by 1:30 p.m. Eastern; PCS file transfer to MFT or PCS submission through ECS for Monday's trades must be received by 2:00 p.m. Eastern; and Gross Customer Margin (GCM) File submission to MFT for Monday's trades must be received by 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Match-off files and clearing reports for the Monday, January 20 trading day will be available to members at approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern on that day. See: Press Release.

CFTC Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen announced that Joseph Cisewski and Scott Reinhart will serve as the new Co-Chiefs of Staff and Co-Chief Operating Officers for the CFTC. See: Press Release.

The CFTC issued a request for public comment on a staff advisory regarding the applicability of "transaction-level" requirements for swaps to the activity of CFTC-registered, non-U.S. swap dealers entering into swaps with non-U.S. persons where the swaps may be agented by individuals located in the United States ("Covered Transactions,"). This request for comment should be read in connection with the first CFTC no-action letter of the new year in which the CFTC states that it will generally not take any action against non-U.S. swap dealers entering into Covered Transaction without complying

FINRA filed an immediately effective rule amending FINRA Rule 2360 ("Options"). The rule amendment has the effect of increasing the position limit for standardized options on iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund ("EEM") to 500,000 contracts and likewise increases the position limit for conventional options on EEM to 500,000 contracts. See: Text of Rule Change.

FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC regarding a new Capacity Management Plan ("Plan") for the Alternative Display Facility ("ADF") and to amend the ADF Trading Center Certification. FINRA proposed to adopt the plan which will allow FINRA members to opt-in to utilize the ADF for quoting and trade reporting. FINRA stated that each ADF Trading Center will be required to complete a certification process which involves testing its connectivity to the ADF with FINRA Product Management. Additionally, FINRA will require that the ADF Trading Centers submit volume projections for current and