The annual meeting of FINRA firms will take place on or about Monday, August 12, 2013, to elect one Small Firm Governor and one Large Firm Governor to the FINRA Board of Governors (FINRA Board). A formal notice of the meeting, including the precise date, time and location, will be mailed to executive representatives on or about July 9, 2013. Petitions for candidacy are due by June 24, 2013. See:FINRA Election Notice.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech discussing the Federal Reserve's ongoing monitoring of the financial system, and how such monitoring efforts have changed in response to the financial crisis. In particular, Chairman Bernanke stated that the Federal Reserve has both increased the resources it devotes to monitoring as well as shifted its approach: in addition to monitoring individual financial systems, as it traditionally has, the Federal Reserve has begun emphasizing a more systemic approach that pays attention to the vulnerabilities of the financial system as a whole

Eurex published the attached report on High-Frequency Trading (HFT). In the report, Eurex asserts that HFT is a "natural reflection of competition between market participants using the advances in computer technology." The report discusses background, issues, and regulation of HFT using the following outline. How do you define high-frequency trading (HFT)? What are the most common HFT strategies? Why is the speed so important? What is the impact of HFT on market quality? Do HFT users cause volatility? Why are there critical voices on HFT from institutional investors? How do HFT firms (re-)act

The CFTC will consider the "pre-trade" transparency module that includes the swaps block rule, the swap execution facility rule and the made available to trade rule. The public meeting will take place on Thursday, May 16, 2013, at 10:00 am. Click hereto learn more (links externally to CFTC website).

In the attached report, GAO reviewed the CFTC's new rule on the clearing exemption for swaps between certain affiliated entities. GAO found that the CFTC complied with the applicable requirements in promulgating the rule, with the exception of the 60-day delay in effective date requirement. Lofchie Comment: This is a most unusual document. The CFTC essentially self-certified that it had complied with the Administrative Procedure Act. The GAO did not seem to conduct any independent review of the CFTC's compliance. Click here to view the report in full (links externally to GAO website).