FINRA has filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend the FINRA Rule 6700 Series and the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") dissemination protocols to disseminate additional Asset-Backed Securities transactions and reduce the reporting periods for such securities. FINRA also proposed to rename the broad ground of securities, currently defined as "Asset-Backed Securities," as "Securitized Products," and to redefine the term "Asset-Backed Security" more narrowly to mean the specific securities that FINRA proposes to disseminate in the proposed rule change, along with

FINRA released a regulatory notice to announce revisions to the Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative ("Series 6") examination program. The changes are the result of FINRA's periodic reviews of recent laws, rules, and regulations which pertain to the subject matter of the examinations. The revisions are reflected in the Series 6 content outline on the FINRA website, and will appear in Series 6 examinations administered on or after December 16, 2013. See: FINRA Regulatory Notice 13-36; Series 6 Content Outline. See also: SEC: Proposed FINRA Rule Change to Revise the

At the 5th Annual Financial Regulatory Reform Symposium at George Washington University, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler delivered a keynote address on swaps market reform (see links below for similar previous speeches). Lofchie Comment : According to Chairman Gensler's speech delivered at George Washington University, Dodd-Frank is consistent with the economic "invisible hand" idea espoused by Adam Smith, embodies principles of common sense and encourages innovation. The speech is not primarily intended for those of us who have actually tried to work with the 2,000 pages of statute and 200,000

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") announced the issuance of a no-action letter extending time-limited relief for Australian-based trading platform, Yieldbroker Pty Limited ("Yieldbroker"). The extension confirms that the CFTC will not take enforcement action against Yieldbroker for its failure to register as a swap execution facility under Commodity Exchange Act Section 5h(a)(1) ("Swap Execution Facilities") or CFTC Rule 37.3(a)(1) ("Requirements for registration"), or against any market participants for use of or other relationships with Yieldbroker for an additional period

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton spo ke before the Regulatory Compliance Association regarding the future of the financial sector. First, Commissioner Chilton noted that the financial sector has some reputation-management problems, citing CME Chairman Terry Duffy's comment, "Wall Street has suffered reputational damage. . . . I am concerned that those of us in financial services forget who we serve - and the public knows it." In order to address malfeasance in the financial sector, Commissioner Chilton made recommendations which included: (i) serious and significant penalties that are not