Lord Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that new banks in the UK will be allowed to operate with lower capital requirements than existing banking institutions. The move, which is part of a greater regulatory effort to encourage competition in UK domestic banking, could allow startups to open with core capital of just 4.5% of their assets, adjusted for risk. Dominant banks in the UK currently require a core capital ratio of 9-10%. The reforms in banking capital are also expected to form part of a larger package aimed

The MSRB published the 2012 edition of its Fact Book, an online sourcebook that analyzes trade data and other statistics for the municipal bond market. This edition contains the following: New statistics on municipal market trading activity based on the credit rating and average yields of customer trades of municipal securities Analysis on 50 million trades that occurred over the last 5 years Monthly, quarterly and yearly aggregate market information from 2008 to 2012, covering different types of municipal issues, trades and rate resets View Fact Book in full here (links externally to MSRB

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler delivered remarks criticizing the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") before the Global Financial Markets Association's Future of Global Benchmarks Conference. Chairman Gensler said, among other criticisms of LIBOR, that the very limited amount of unsecured lending between banks indicates that any measure of the rate at which such loans take place is not meaningful. Thus the question for Chairman Gensler becomes how the financial system will adopt to this shift in the market. View remarks in full here (links externally to CFTC website).See also: CFTC Chairman

The SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 7730 to establish two optional TRACE data delivery services and fees in connection with such services. Effective Date : June 10, 2013. See: Regulatory Notice 13-09 (the amended rule text is set forth on Attachment A).

The SEC charged Keyuan, a China-based petrochemical company, and its former CFO with accounting and disclosure violations, and both agreed to pay more than $1 million combined to settle the charges. According to the SEC's complaint filed in federal court in Washington D.C., the related party transactions that Keyuan failed to disclose included sales of products, purchases of raw materials, loan guarantees, and short-term financing. See: SEC Complaint. See also: SEC Litigation Release.