SEC Chairman Mary Jo White delivered remarks on the recently released FINRA Investor Education Foundation's 2012 National Financial Capability Study. In her statement, Ms. White discussed the study's findings on investor capability, explaining that many Americans struggle in retirement, come out of college with debt, or suffer disproportionately high losses in their stocks because they were never exposed to the basics of finance. Ms. White further cited several SEC initiatives to remedy the deficiency in American financial literacy and facilitate investor education, including the following: a

As reported in the Cadwalader Cabinet newsletter May 21, 2013, the CFTC Inspector General had issued a report (the "CFTC Report") regarding the handling of the investigation of the failure of MF Global by CFTC Commissioner Gensler. Among other criticisms, the report noted that the CFTC Chairman had not followed the ordinary governmental procedures when sending and receiving work-related email. However, while noting the divergence from procedures, the CFTC Report stated that the Inspector General had not conducted a review of the Chairman's e-mails other than those relating directly to MF

The CFPB is amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"). Regulation Z generally prohibits a creditor from making a mortgage loan unless the creditor determines that the consumer will have the ability to repay the loan. The final rule provides an exemption to these requirements for creditors with certain designations, loans pursuant to certain programs, certain nonprofit creditors, and mortgage loans made in connection with certain Federal emergency economic stabilization programs. The final rule also provides an additional definition of a qualified mortgage for

In the FAQs linked below, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance provided guidance on (i) various aspects of Exchange Act Section 13(p), Rule 13p-1 and Item 1.01 of Form SD relating to disclosure regarding the use of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries and (ii) the foregoing Section and Rules and Item 2.01 of Form SD, which requires disclosure of certain payments made by resource extraction issuers to foreign governments or the U.S. federal government for the purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas or minerals. Click here to

Linked below is an article entitled "Disruptive Guidance" which originally appeared in the Energy Metro Desk. The article discusses Commissioner O'Malia's take on the disruptive trading practices guidance with analysis of several scenarios. Click here to view the article in full.The above link is an excerpt from the most recent issue of Energy Metro Desk, which is published biweekly by Scudder Publishing Group, an energy trade news publishing company based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Those interested in learning more about the Energy Metro Desk may do so by linking to www