ICE released an exchange notice reminding members of Rules 2.28 and 2.34. Rule 2.28 requires member firms to immediately notify the Exchange in the event of a material adverse change in financial condition, defined as a 20% or more reduction in net capital or tentative net capital if the firm is a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) or Introducing Broker. Rule 2.34 requires FCMs and Clearing Members to submit an audited financial statement to the exchange within 90 days of the close of the firm's fiscal year, or 60 days if the FCM is also a registered broker dealer. Click here to view notice in

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton spoke at the National Grain and Feed Association's Conference, continuing his campaign against passive investment funds and high-frequency traders, while again asserting that the CFTC should have the power to impose higher penalties. Below are the Commissioner's main points and suggested remedies: Commissioner Chilton argued that the record price of oil in the summer of 2008 was caused by speculation by "Massive Passives," large pools of managed money that invest in commodities in a passive manner. Chilton claims that large positions by such large funds can

Richard Berner, Director of the Office of Financial Research (OFR), testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding the OFR's recent activities and its role in supporting the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). In surveying the OFR's activities, Director Berner stated that the OFR has made "significant progress" in fulfilling its data and research responsibilities. Additionally, Director Berner outlined steps that the OFR has taken to address the concerns raised by the GAO in its September 2012 report, including by improving

The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk (Division) issued a no-action letter that provides relief from required clearing for a limited set of swaps that are generated as part of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise. The Division will not recommend that the CFTC take enforcement action against any person for failing to clear (1) swaps that are amended in order to reduce notional value as part of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise and (2) new swaps that are entered into to replace the original swaps as a result of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise, provided that

CME Clearing Europe announced that is has received FSA approval and launched real-time, open access clearing of Interest Rate Swaps. This is the first step in CME Clearing Europe's expansion into clearing OTC financial derivatives. Andrew Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of CME Clearing Europe, stated that CME Clearing Europe will be looking to "expand this further with the launch of OTC FX later this year, and the provision of clearing services for CME Europe which, pending regulatory approval, will launch in the second quarter."