The FDIC, OCC, and Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") are seeking comment on proposed supervisory guidance describing supervisory expectations for stress tests conducted by financial companies with total consolidated assets between $10 billion and $50 billion. These medium-sized companies are required to conduct stress tests beginning in the fall under agency-issued rules implementing a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act. The public comment period will be open until September 25, 2013. See: Proposed Supervisory Guidance. See also: FDIC Press Release; OCC Press Release; FRB Press Release.

The SEC has charged Cedric Cañas Maillard, an executive advisor at Madrid-based Banco Santander S.A., and former Spanish judge Julio Marín Ugedo with trading non-public, material information. Cañas's position in the bank alerted him to a proposed acquisition of Potash Corporation, a large producer of fertilizer minerals, to which he tipped Marín. The two were allegedly able to garner illegal profits totaling approximately $1 million. See: SEC Press Release.

The SEC amended its insider trading complaint against Richard Lee to include sell-side analyst Sandeep Aggarwal and also announced that the Department of Justice would pursue criminal charges against Aggarwal. According to the SEC's complaint, Aggarwal shared confidential information regarding the 2009 Microsoft-Yahoo search engine partnership negotiations which he used to tip-off Lee. Lee then purchased large amounts of Yahoo stock for an SAC fund he managed and his personal trading account, both of which reaped substantial profits after the Yahoo stock rose 4 percent nearly a week later when

The CFTC issued a time-limited (through October 1) no-action relief from the aggregation prohibition in § 43.6(h)(6) ("Block Trades and Large Notional Off-Facility Swaps") for certain CTAs and IAs with respect to large notional off-facility swaps where the swaps are listed on a facility. In addition, the no-action letter provided indefinite relief for aggregating swaps that are not listed or offered for trading on a SEF and DCM. The letter provided the CFTC's Division of Market Oversight's rationale for relief in both cases. See: CFTC Letter 13-48; CFTC Press Release.

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing to discuss reducing systemic risk through Wall Street reforms, including the implementation of Dodd-Frank. Link here to see a summary of the hearing produced by Delta Strategy Group. Among the topics addressed in the questioning were the following: Cross-Border Regulation Rule Making Progress (and Volcker) Cooperation between the Regulators Money Market Funds The Jobs Act Physical Commodity Holdings by Banks (see also the related item in today's newsletter regarding Senator Stabenow letter to Chairman Gensler) Fiduciary Duties for Securities Brokers