Representatives Maxine Waters and Collin C. Peterson, ranking members of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Agriculture respectively, have filed a motion for leave to submit a separate amicus brief in support of the CFTC in its appeal of a federal district court's ruling vacating its promulgation of position limit rules for physical commodities, ISDA v. CFTC, 887 F. Supp. 2d 259 (D.D.C. Sep. 28, 2012). The brief accompanying the motion takes issue with that lower court's ruling that the CFTC had no "clear and unambiguous mandate" to set position limits under the

Heath Abshure, President of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), stated in a letter that he "applauds" the SEC's decision to charge "user fees" on federally registered investment advisers. Mr. Abshure also stated his belief that investment adviser regulation should be a government, rather than SRO's, responsibility; i.e., NASAA absolutely opposes giving FINRA examination authority over investment advisers. Lofchie Comment: This is the second news item in a very short period arguing for the imposition of user fees on participants in the financial industry. That is

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released new enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with national banks and federal savings associations. View Press Release in full here (links externally to OCC website).

The Government Accountability Office ("GAO") released a report about the internal controls which the SEC has in place to help ensure that staff carry out their work completely and in a manner consistent with applicable policies and procedures. The GAO recommends that, to help ensure that controls are properly designed and operating effectively, the SEC should make certain that existing internal supervisory controls and any developed in the future have clearly defined activities, as well as clear and readily available documentation demonstrating the execution of the activities. View report in

SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar gave a speech at the Regulatory Compliance Association's 2013 program on Regulation, Operations, and Compliance which focused on training and education for the investment industry in general and alternative asset management firms in particular. Commissioner Aguilar said that, although surveys indicate that investors generally trust their financial advisers, investors' opportunities for mischief increase as the industry grows in size and complexity. He also said that, in 2012, 147 investment adviser-related charges had been brought by the SEC, the largest