The SEC granted approval to FINRA's application for an exemption for rule filing requirements pursuant to Exchange Act Section 19(b) ("Registration, Responsibilities, and Oversight of Self-Regulatory Organizations") with respect to certain rules that FINRA seeks to incorporate by reference. FINRA Rule 2360 ("Options") and FINRA Rule 2359 ("Position and Exercise Limits; Liquidations") incorporate by reference comparable position and exercise limit rules of the options exchanges. See: SEC Order Granting Approval.

The National Futures Association ("NFA") issued a notice to members regarding the applicability of CFTC No-Action Letter 13-51, which permits the consolidation of pool annual and quarterly reports by wholly owned subsidiaries. NFA stated that relief provided under CFTC No-Action Letter 13-51 only permits consolidated reporting for a registered investment company ("RIC") and its wholly owned subsidiary. The notice went on to inform members that the relief does not permit a commodity pool operator ("CPO") that operates a non-RIC pool that trades commodity interests through a wholly owned

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") issued a correction to the final rule that revises risk-based and leverage capital requirements for banking organizations published on October 11, 2013. The correction adds an acceleration clause under the capital components and eligibility criteria for regulatory capital instruments, and corrects an incorrect citation. The corrections are effective January 1, 2014. See: 78 FR 76973. Related news: OCC and FRB Publish Final Rules Regarding Regulatory Capital Rules (Fed. Reg.) (October 14, 2013); Financial Institution Letter: Proposed

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") issued guidance on how certain risk transfer transactions affect assessments of capital adequacy at large financial institutions covered by the Federal Reserve's Consolidated Supervision Framework for Large Financial Institutions. According to the FRB, large financial institutions should carefully evaluate transactions intended to reduce risk to ensure that, if risks are shifted to a thinly capitalized counterparty or affiliated entity of the firm, any residual risk is effectively captured in the firm's internal capital adequacy

The SEC has charged global food processor company Archer-Daniels-Midland for failing to prevent illicit payments made by foreign subsidiaries to Ukrainian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA"). An SEC investigation found that the company's subsidiaries in Germany and Ukraine paid bribes through intermediaries to secure the release of value-added tax ("VAT") refunds. The payments were then concealed by improperly recording the transactions in accounting records as insurance premiums and other purported business expenses. The SEC stated that the company