The SEC approved FINRA Rule 4314 ("Securities Loans and Borrowings"), Rule 4330 ("Customer Protection – Permissible Use of Customers' Securities"), and Rule 4340 ("Callable Securities"). FINRA Rules 4314 and 4330 are derived in part from NYSE Rule 296 ("Liquidation of Securities Loans and Borrowings") and NYSE Rule 402 ("Customer Protection - Reserves and Custody of Securities"). Newly adopted FINRA Rule 4314 is intended to provide clarity as to whether a party is acting as principal or agent when entering into an agreement to loan or borrow securities, by requiring it to disclose its capacity

The SEC announced the agenda and panelists for the December 5, 2013 staff roundtable on the use of proxy advisory firm services by institutional investors and investment advisers. The roundtable will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be divided into two sessions. In the first session, participants will discuss topics such as the current use of proxy advisory services. In the second session, participants will discuss issues identified in the SEC's 2010 concept release on the U.S. proxy voting system, among other topics. See: SEC Announcement.

Nine Senate Democrats sent a letter to the White House urging the President to consider a nominee for CFTC Commissioner "who has the expertise, independence, and track record necessary to carry forward strong implementation of the derivatives reforms" of Dodd-Frank. President Obama will have to nominate a new Commissioner to replace Bart Chilton, who announced that he will be stepping down on the same day that Timothy Massad was named to succeed current Chairman Gary Gensler. According to the letter, the Senators are "deeply concerned" that some in the industry will view Gensler and Chilton's

University of Houston finance professor Craig Pirrong has written a commentary analyzing the new CFTC Rule 39.33, which mandates that collateral be subject to a "prearranged and highly reliable funding arrangement." The rule, which requires systematically important derivatives clearing organizations in the form of Treasuries in the form of Treasuries ("SIDCOs") to maintain sufficient liquidity resources, does not treat U.S. Treasury securities as a qualifying liquid resource. Instead, such organizations can count Treasuries towards their liquid resources only if they are backed by highly

The SEC has announced fraud charges against a Detroit-based investment advisory firm to an SEC-registered money market fund and a portfolio manager of that fund for deceiving the trustees of the fund as to the quality and risk of the assets held by the fund. The SEC alleged that Ambassador Capital Management and its principal repeatedly made false statements to the trustees of the fund as to the credit risk in the securities purchased for the portfolio. According to the Order, the risk was so substantial that the fund was not, in fact, legally a "money market fund" as defined by Rule 2a-7