The Committee on Financial Services held a third hearing focusing on Dodd-Frank's regulatory burden and the resulting harmful economic consequences. The regulatory burden, stemming from the confusing, complex and voluminous rules and regulations mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, is having a harmful effect on community banks' ability to serve their customers, according to industry experts testifying at the House Financial Services Committee Financial Institutions Subcommittee hearing. View Press Release in full here (links externally to Financial Services website).

FINRA issued a fine of more than $1 million against a firm for failing to provide best execution in certain customer transactions involving non-convertible preferred securities executed on one of its proprietary order management systems, and for failing to have an adequate supervisory system and written supervisory procedures in place. FINRA found that the firm had programmed a faulty pricing logic into its automated systems that only incorporated quotations published on the primary listing exchange for each non-convertible preferred security. As a result, in instances when there was a better

The Kingdom of Norway and the United States on April 15 signed a Model 1 type Reciprocal Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") under FATCA. The IGA generally follows closely the Model 1 IGA template but contains a new provision providing for coordination of the timing of each country's obligation to provide information to the other. Norway, for example, is not required to obtain and transfer information to the United States with respect to accounts held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons until the United States is able to collect and exchange similar information with Norway with respect to

The principal authorities with responsibility for the regulation of the over-the-counter ("OTC") derivatives markets in Australia, Brazil, the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Ontario, Quebec, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, issued a report discussing the reform of the OTC derivatives market. Here is the key paragraph in the report: "The principals also recognise that conflicting or inconsistent cross-border application of rules to market participants, intermediaries, infrastructures and products may inhibit the execution or clearing of certain cross-border transactions or

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler made the following statement on the International Organization of Securities Commissions ("IOSCO") consultation paper on Principles for Financial Benchmarks: "it is critical that benchmark interest rates be anchored in observable transactions and supported by appropriate governance structures. . . ." View Statement in full here (links externally to CFTC website). See also: IOSCO Consultation Paper.