The CFTC issued a much anticipated letter providing relief from the business conduct rules in connection with "prime brokerage" arrangements; i.e., arrangements where one swap dealer executes the trade and another (the "prime broker") becomes the eventual counterparty. The letter describes prime brokerage arrangements. It then says that the executing broker and the prime broker must (i) agree in writing as to how each aspect of the business conduct rules will be allocated between them; (ii) provide that neither is responsible for the obligations of the other; (iii) require that customers be

The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") issued an investor advisory to remind investors of the importance of understanding the distinctions between the various types of financial professionals, and to provide basic information on their obligations to investors. The advisory focuses on the following types of financial services professions: Broker-Dealer Agents Investment Adviser Representatives Financial Planners The investor advisory also provides questions to ask your financial professional and warning signs to watch for. The advisory is part of NASAA's Informed

FINRA announced that Jonathan S. Sokobin, currently Acting Deputy Director of Research and Analysis in the Office of Financial Research at the U.S. Treasury Department, will join the organization as Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. In this role, Dr. Sokobin will lead FINRA's Office of the Chief Economist. The Office of the Chief Economist will work closely with the Office of General Counsel and other departments in developing new rules and analyzing the costs and benefits of existing and potential rulemakings. In order to facilitate that effort, the Office will be responsible for

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton provided the keynote address at the April 30th Technology Advisory Committee. In his speech, Commissioner Chilton emphasized the "categorical" importance of getting all the Dodd-Frank rules in place in an "appropriate manner." He stressed this point through what he asserted was the lack of sufficient regulation of (i) "Massive Passives" (traders responsible for the "financialization" of commodity markets), and (ii) "Cheetahs" (high frequency traders). Commissioner Chilton further discussed the need for an "End-User Bill of Rights" (first proposed last month)

Linked below is an article entitled "O'Malia's TAC, Terror Tweets and Industry Initiatives," which originally appeared in the Energy Metro Desk. The article discusses topics to be addressed at the CFTC Technology Advisory Committee meeting to be led by Commissioner O’Malia, including problems related to SDR reporting. Click here to view the article in full.The above link is to 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