The NFA has submitted a letter to the CFTC requesting a thirty-day extension of the comment period for the above-described rulemaking to February 13, 2013. The NFA states in the letter that it is particularly concerned with proposed changes to SRO examination practices and seeks further time to evaluate the costs and benefits of the proposal. Click here to view comment letter in full (links externally to NFA website).

The CFTC is amending its regulations delegating authority to the CFTC’s Office of General Counsel, so that all delegations thereto will be to the General Counsel, with authority to sub-delegate to any CFTC employee under the supervision of the General Counsel. Effective Date: January 8, 2013. View rule release: 78 FR 1144.

The MSRB has published its 2012 Annual Report, which reviews the agency’s major activities for the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2012. The report provides updates on MSRB initiatives, as well as an overview of improvements in municipal market transparency. MSRB activities highlighted in the report include: “Investor protection initiatives such as the launch of the MSRB’s online toolkit for municipal securities investor; Expanded resources and protections for state and local governments; Recent and planned enhancements for the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access website, the

The SEC announced that Geoffrey F. Aronow has been appointed as the agency’s new General Counsel. As the SEC’s chief legal officer, Aronow will lead the Office of the General Counsel in advising the Commission on enforcement actions, rulemakings, and legal proceedings in federal courts throughout the country. “Geoff brings the ideal combination of practical knowledge, expertise, and common sense that is so critical to addressing the often nuanced and difficult issues that come before the Commission,” said Chairman Elisse B. Walter. “Geoff is a faithful steward of the securities laws with a

FINRA is filing with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend the Customer and Industry Codes of Arbitration Procedure (“Codes”) to revise the definition of “public arbitrator” to exclude persons associated with a mutual fund or hedge fund from serving as public arbitrators and to require individuals to wait for two years after ending certain affiliations before they may be permitted to serve as public arbitrators. FINRA believes that the proposed amendments to the public arbitrator definition would improve investors’ perception of the fairness and neutrality of FINRA’s public arbitrator roster