In connection with the 6-month extension of FATCA withholding and registration that was announced on Friday, the Treasury Department has revised the Model IGAs and Annexes to reflect such extension. There are also a small handful of non-substantive wording changes in the revised Models that are unrelated to the extension. See: Annex II to Model 2 Agreement; Annex II to Model 1 Agreement; Annex I to Model 2 Agreement; Annex I to Model 1 Agreement; Model 2 Agreement No TIEA or DTC; Model 2 Agreement Preexisting TIEA or DTC; Nonreciprocal Model 1B Agreement, No TIEA or DTC; Nonreciprocal Model 1B

SIFMA CEO Judd A. Gregg and president Kenneth Bentsen released a statement voicing support for EU Commissioner Bariner's announcement to include financial services in negotiations between the EU and U.S. on Transatlantic Trade. See: SIFMA Press Release.

On May 29th, the SEC issued findings and imposed a ten million dollar fine against NASDAQ as a result of NASDAQ's technical problems in connection with the Facebook IPO and NASDAQ's responses to those problems. Chris Clearfield of System Logic is writing a series of articles that examine the technical details of the Facebook problems, NASDAQ's decision making in response to that problem, and the broader implications, from the standpoint of technology and related corporate processes, of what may be learned from the Facebook problems. The first such article, which discusses the core technology

European Securities and Markets Authority (" ESMA") is seeking comments on a recently released discussion paper, The Clearing Obligation under EMIR, which focuses on implementing the clearing obligation under European Markets Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"). The discussion paper addresses the following issues: The standard procedure for determining over-the-counter ("OTC") derivative classes to be subject to the clearing obligation; The central counterparties designated to clear the derivatives; An analysis of the current readiness of each asset class of derivatives vis-à-vis the clearing

The CFTC seeks public comment on a request from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, New York Mercantile Exchange, Commodity Exchange, and Kansas City Board of Trade for approval of CME Group Market Regulation Advisory Notice RA1308-5. The Advisory Notice contains: (a) FAQ; (b) guidance concerning CME Rule 534 ("Wash Trades Prohibited") and activity that may constitute wash trading; and (c) information concerning "Self-Match Prevention" functionality on the CME Globex platform. Comments Due: August 14, 2013. See: CFTC Press Release.