The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") announced in a letter that it is taking a no-action position to provide relief from IB or CTA registration requirements for certain entities, and their employees, that act as agents of a swap dealer that is not yet registered but is in the process of being registered. The relief is subject to a good number of conditions including that the various affiliates often are subject to joint and several liability for the conduct of any employees of the entity acting as agent. The letter extends relief that the DSIO had previously

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight, Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO"), and Division of Clearing and Risk extended a previously issued no-action letter (CFTC Letter 12-11) issued to Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators to give them time to comply with the conditions in a final exemptive order that the CFTC had issued on March 28, 2013. Cadwalader represented PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. in connection with this matter. See : CFTC Extension of RTO/ISO No-Action Relief. Related News :

Michael Steinberg, a portfolio manager at New York-based hedge fund advisory firm Sigma Capital Management, has been charged with using inside information to make trades in shares of Dell Inc. and chipmaker Nvidia Corp. that generated about $1.4 million in illegal profits. Earlier this month, Sigma Capital and two affiliated hedge funds agreed to a settlement with the SEC for insider trading charges. See : SEC Complaint and SEC Press Release. Related News : "Hedge Fund Advisory Firm Sigma Capital Management Agrees to Settle Charges of Insider Trading for $14 Million" (March 20, 2013) and "SEC

The SEC announced that a Chinese businessman and his wife, whose trading accounts were frozen last year as part of an insider trading case, have agreed to settle charges. According to the SEC, the pair loaded up on the securities of Nexen Inc. while in possession of nonpublic information about an impending announcement that the company was being acquired by China-based CNOOC Ltd. The SEC obtained an emergency court order in July 2012 to freeze multiple Hong Kong and Singapore-based trading accounts just days after the Nexen acquisition was announced and suspicious trading in Nexen stock was

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act, and the Official Interpretations of the Regulation, which interpret the requirements of Regulation Z. Regulation Z generally limits the total amount of fees that a credit card issuer may require a consumer to pay with respect to an account to 25 percent of the credit limit in effect when the account is opened. Regulation Z previously stated that this limitation applies prior to an account opening and during the first year after an account opening. This final rule amends