The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") announced that they are jointly increasing the dollar thresholds in Regulation Z ("Truth in Lending") and Regulation M ("Consumer Leasing") for exempt consumer credit and lease transactions. The adjustments to the thresholds reflect the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers as of June 1, 2013, and will take effect on January 1, 2014. Based on these adjustments, the protections of the Truth in Lending and Consumer Leasing

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") released the November edition of its monthly newsletter, the MFA Policy Brief, which highlights a number of recent MFA events, as well as advocacy, educational outreach and other global hedge fund industry news. Highlights of the Policy Brief include: SEC Chair Mary Jo White appearing at Outlook 2013 to discuss issues surrounding the hedge fund industry; Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaking about the importance of culture at corporate institutions at MFA's Compliance 2013 conference; The MFA's recent comment letter

The MSRB has made available a new educational resource to assist state and local governments in understanding the information that will be made public regarding municipal securities dealers' contributions to bond ballot campaigns and any resulting municipal securities underwriting business. The MSRB amended public disclosure rules in July 2013, which amendments included the requirement that municipal securities dealers disclose information as to their political contributions on a quarterly basis. Disclosures for July through September 2013 are available on the Electronic Municipal Market

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler announced the initial edition of the CFTC's Weekly Swaps Report, which will be published each Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to provide the public with a detailed view of the swaps marketplace. The Weekly Swaps Report uses data collected from swap data repositories ("SDRs") in the interest rate asset class and credit asset class, and represents only those swaps that are reported to the CFTC's registered SDRs by swap market participants. The Report currently incorporates data from three SDRs: CME Group SDR, DTCC Data Repository and ICE Trade Vault; however, data from

SIFMA, the American Bankers Association ("ABA"), The Clearing House Association L.L.C. ("The Clearing House") and the Institute of International Bankers ("IIB") submitted the comment letter linked below to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") requesting an additional extension of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA") phased timeline. The letter states that, without the Final Guidance, firms cannot do the following: complete their implementation plans, finalize budgets, prepare needed written procedures, hire and train internal personnel