The CFTC announced an Order against The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and RBS Securities Japan Limited (collectively, "RBS") regarding its activities in LIBOR for Yen and Swiss Franc. See: CFTC Order: The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and RBS Securities Japan Limited and CFTC Press Release. See also: Chairman Gensler's Statementand Commissioner Chilton's Statement.

FINRA has filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend Section 4 of Schedule A to the FINRA By-Laws to adopt a waiver process for the continuing membership application fee in which FINRA determines that the application is proposing changes that do not require substantial staff review. The proposed rule change also would amend NASD Rules 1013 ("New Member Application and Interview") and 1017("Application for Approval of Change in Ownership, Control, or Business Operations") to provide for a refund of the application fee (less a $500 processing fee) if a new member applicant or continuing

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange published a report summarizing the key observations and findings from its review of 120 annual, interim and quarterly reports released by listed issuers between May 2011 and September 2012. These observations and findings included: Issuers should be aware of disclosure requirements relating to financial information in the Listing Rules, in addition to disclosure requirements in accounting standards; Issuers should enhance their explanations of significant events and transactions in their annual and interim reports; Issuers should enhance their disclosures relating

The MFA and AIMA jointly submitted a comment letter to the CFTC on itsFinal Exemptive Order Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (78 FR 858). MFA and AIMA expressed continued concern with the "breadth of the definition and its application to non-U.S. funds." In particular, MFA and AIMA urged the CFTC to provide equal treatment of funds and corporate entities by modifying the proposed "U.S. person" definition to "eliminate the 'look-through' to all indirect investors, and apply only the tests in alternative prong (ii) to funds, specifically, the tests related to place of

The Institute of International Bankers ("IIB") has published a comment letter in which it offers suggestions across three key topics: (i) the aggregation rule, (ii) the “U.S. person” definition, and (iii) matters relating to the transition from the Final Order. In the letter, the IIB states that it supports the CFTC's adoption of a modified version of the Final Exemptive Order Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (78 FR 858), which it believes addresses two key elements of the Title VII regulatory regime: the aggregation of affiliates' swaps for purposes of the de minimis