SEC Investor Advisory Committee announced it will hold a meeting, part of which is open to the public, on July 25, 2013, to discuss Investor as Owner Subcommittee recommendations regarding data tagging and the use of universal proxy ballots, and subcommittee reports, among other topics. The meeting will be webcast at www.sec.gov. See: SEC Notice of Meeting.

The Senate Agriculture Committee held a hearing about the reauthorization of the CFTC, which served as an opportunity to revisit CFTC regulations. The following witnesses testified: Panel I: The Honorable Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., President, SIFMA (prepared statement); Mr. Terrence A. Duffy, Executive Chairman and President, CME Group (prepared statement); Mr. Adam Cooper (on behalf of MFA), Senior Managing Director and Chief Legal Officer, Citadel LLC (prepared statement); Mr. Dennis Kelleher President and CEO, Better Markets (prepared statement); and Mr. Daniel J. Roth President and CEO, NFA

Karl Schimmeck, vice president of Financial Service Operations, released a statement praising the success of the Quantum Dawn 2 exercise. Schimmeck reiterated his support for a partnership between government and industry in order to address the growing risk of cyber attacks on financial markets. Furthermore, Schimmeck noted that SIFMA will be analyzing the findings from the exercise, and an action report will be available in August. See: SIFMA Statement. See also: SIFMA Quantum Dawn 2 Fact Sheet.

The NFA issued an interpretive notice regarding NFA Rule 402 ("Waiver of Testing Requirement"), granting the Vice President of Registration and Membership the authority to waive the Series 3 examination for certain individuals associated with CTAs who are required to register solely because their securities advisory services include advice on the use of futures and options for risk management purposes. Lofchie Comment: It is so refreshing to see a regulator take action to reduce the duplicative regulation that results from the fact that we have two regulators, the SEC and the CFTC, both

The NFA has released a compliance rule update for Rule 2-7 ("Branch Office Managers and Designated Security Futures Principals"). Rule 2-7 places limitations on who is permitted to be a branch office manager. In order to be a branch office manager, an Associate must: Have taken and passed the "NFA Branch Manager Examination," with the exception of Associates who are no longer acting as a branch manager, unless after acting as a branch manager the Associate was not registered in any capacity for a period of more than two years; or Is sponsored by a registered broker-dealer and is qualified to