The MSRB held its quarterly meeting from October 23 through 25, in which it established priorities for the implementation of a regulatory framework for municipal advisors and agreed to develop and solicit public comment on a "best execution" rule for the municipal market. In light of the SEC September 2013 final registration rule for municipal advisors, the MSRB agreed to proceed with the development of a regulatory framework for advisors that prioritizes the following five rules aimed at protecting municipal entities and investors: fiduciary duty and fair dealing standards of conduct of

The CFTC filed the notice linked below in a position limits litigation, advising the court that if the CFTC votes at the November 5 meeting to issue a new proposed position limits rule that is supported by a cost-benefit analysis, then the Commission will voluntarily dismiss its appeal of a decision that it could not impose position limits without performing such an analysis. Lofchie Comment: A significant amount of academic literature argues against the imposition of position limits. This viewpoint should receive a fair hearing from all of the Commissioners. See: CFTC Notice to Court

The CFTC is asking for public comment on an application by Singapore Exchange Derivatives Clearing Limited for registration as a derivatives clearing organization. Comments Due: November 12, 2013. Click here to submit comments electronically to the CFTC. See: CFTC Press Release.

FINRA has issued a new Investor Alert intended to explain what closed-end funds are, how they differ from traditional mutual funds, what a distribution rate is and what to ask before investing. FINRA's new investor alert (linked below) explains that closed-end funds are similar to mutual funds, but unlike mutual funds (which continuously sell newly issued shares and redeem outstanding shares), most closed-end funds offer a fixed number of shares in an initial public offering which are then traded on an exchange. This investor alert urges investors to ask the following six questions before

The CFTC published in the federal register an amendment to Rule 23.22 ("Associated Persons of Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants") to clarify certain responsibilities of a swap dealer or major swap participant regarding its employees who solicit, accept or effect swaps in a clerical or ministerial capacity. We previously reported this amendment on October 22, 2013. See: 78 FR 64173.