The CFTC announced that it will hold an Open Meeting to consider two cross-border rulemaking matters. The following items will be addressed: Final Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (Cross-Border Final Guidance); and Exemptive Order Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (Cross-Border Phase-In Exemptive Order). See: CFTC Sunshine Act Meeting Notice.

The CFTC's Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") issued an advisory reminding reportable market participants of their obligation to submit accurate Form 204 reports on a monthly basis for wheat, corn, oats, soybeans, soybean oil, and soybean meal pursuant to CFTC Rule 19.01. See: CFTC Advisory.

SIFMA and 12 other trade associations, including the ABA, FSR, ICI, ISDA, and FIA, submitted joint comment letters to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the U.S. Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees over the cross-border application of Dodd-Frank. The trade associations expressed their concerns regarding the anticipated expiration of an Exemptive Order issued by the CFTC due to the existing misalignment between the SEC, CFTC and foreign jurisdictions. Lofchie Comment: The letter is an unusually direct criticism by entities of the Chairman of a body that regulates them, although it does

The House Financial Services Committee passed two bills intended to reduce what the Chairman of the Committee described as certain unforeseen consequences of the Dodd-Frank Act. H.R. 1564, the Audit Integrity and Job Protection Act prohibits the PCAOB from mandating the automatic rotation of a public company's independent external auditor. H.R. 1341, the Financial Competitiveness Act of 2013 requires the Financial Stability Oversight Council to examine how differences in the international implementation of Basel III derivatives-related capital rules will affect the U.S. financial system and

The Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC and the OCC proposed a rule to strengthen the leverage ratio standards for the eight largest, most systematically significant U.S. banking organizations. Under the proposed rule: Bank holding companies with more than $700 billion in consolidated total assets or $10 trillion in assets under custody ("covered BHCs") would be required to maintain a tier 1 capital leverage buffer of at least 2 percent above the minimum supplementary leverage ratio requirement of 3 percent, for a total of 5 percent, the failure of which would subject covered BHCs to restrictions