The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a trader at a Dallas-based investment advisory firm who improperly profited by placing his own trades before executing large block trades for firm clients where such trades had the potential to change the relevant security's price. According to the Commission, Daniel Bergin, a senior equity trader at Cushing MLP Asset Management, secretly executed hundreds of trades through his wife's accounts. Lofchie Comment: From a compliance standpoint, there are a number of interesting aspects of the charges. First, the charges emphasize the

FINRA is filing with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") dissemination protocols to provide a limited exception to dissemination requirements for certain Agency Pass-Through Mortgage-Backed Securities ("MBS") and Asset-Backed Securities ("ABS") backed by loans guaranteed as to principal and interest by the Small Business Administration ("SBA-Backed ABS"). See : Proposed Rule Change.

National Futures Association ("NFA") took an emergency enforcement action against Light Tower Investments, Inc. (LTI), an NFA Member commodity pool operator (CPO) and commodity trading advisor (CTA) located in Escondido, California, and Klaus P. Weyers (Weyers), a principal and associated person (AP) of LTI. Specifically, NFA believes that LTI was operating a commodity pool – LTI Capital – although LTI and Weyers failed to list the pool with NFA or submit a Pool Disclosure Document to NFA for review and acceptance, or file an exemption from CFTC registration. In addition, NFA believes that LTI

Global emerging market securities regulators met in Panama City and reinforced the need to play a more active role in global regulatory reform efforts and be involved at early stages of new international regulatory reforms to ensure emerging market considerations are reflected in the reform efforts. See : Press Release.

The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight provided no-action relief to various general partners and a managing member of commodity pools from registering as a CPO under Section 4m(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, and allowed an affiliated CPO ("designee") to serve as the CPO of the pools instead, where, among other things: (1) the general partners or managing member (hereinafter "general partners") and the designee are under common ownership and control; (2) the general partners have delegated all of their management authority to the designee; (3) the general partners do not