CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton delivered a speech in Chicago using the board game Trouble to illustrate some points that he indicated he intended to make as to "key policy issues addressing hedge funds and the broader financial sector." Lofchie Comment: Here is a link to Wikipedia's description of the game Trouble. On the right-hand side of the Wikipedia article, there is an illustration of the Pop-O-Matic that made the clicking sound remembered by Commissioner Chilton. Click here to view speech in full (links externally to CFTC website).

The National Futures Association ("NFA") and TeraExchange announced that they have entered into an agreement that sets the foundation for the NFA to perform regulatory services for TeraExchange's swap execution facility ("SEF"). Under the Dodd-Frank Act and regulations promulgated thereunder, a SEF will have surveillance and other self-regulatory responsibilities, which the SEF is able to outsource, at least in part, to another self-regulatory organization, such as the NFA. The agreement establishes a preliminary framework for the exchange of information and the development of technology

The OCC released a report which details important risks facing the banking industry. Notably, BSA and AML violations are cited as risks that "are on the rise as money laundering methods evolve, electronic bank fraud increases in volume and sophistication, and banks fail to evolve or incorporate appropriate controls into new products and services." The report reflects data, as of December 31, 2012, presented in four main areas: the operating environment; condition and performance of the banking system; funding, liquidity, and interest rate risk; and regulatory actions. See: OCC Semiannual Risk

On June 13, 2013, the House Appropriations Committee issued a draft report on the FY 2014 Agriculture Bill, which included appropriations for the CFTC. The Committee's report (1) expressed concerns about the CFTC's regulation, which it described as "duplicative," "overreaching" and "resource intensive"; (2) directed the CFTC to submit cost-benefit studies of such regulations to the Committees of jurisdiction; (3) questioned the CFTC's emphasis on hiring staff rather than improving technology systems to provide the agency with a more efficient way to do business; (4) directed the CFTC to submit

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member, Orrin Hatch, endorsed the Obama Administration's formal launch of negotiations between the United States and the European Union on a Transatlantic Free Trade Partnership. However, Senator Hatch also cautioned that, unless these negotiations are actually concluded and enacted into law, they will not have a meaningful economic impact. Click here to view Senator Hatch's statement in full (links externally to Senate Finance Committee website).