On November 7, 2012, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan for the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York held that payments made in connection with a leveraged buyout to holders of privately held securities were safe harbored under section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code notwithstanding the fact that the payments passed directly from the purchaser to the seller without the use of any financial intermediary. AP Services LLP v. Silva, et al., Case No. 11-03005 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 7, 2012). The decision comports with the trend among the United States Courts of Appeal, including the Second

"Dear Chairman Gensler, I have many questions...," is a series of questions posed by John Sodergreen, editor-in-chief of the Energy Metro Desk, that notwithstanding the title is primarily addressed to CFTC staffers. The questions request "down-in-the weeds details" that Metro Desk's readers have regarding compliance with Dodd-Frank requirements "in the hopes that some CFTC staffer" will read them and respond "with some clarity on the subject." Click here to view the list of questions.The attached is an excerpt from the last issue Energy Metro Desk, which is published bi-weekly by Scudder

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) has issued the attached no-action letter providing swap dealers with relief from the requirement to disclose the pre-trade mid-market mark to counterparties in certain FX transactions that are identified in the no-action letter (“Covered Forex Transactions”). The disclosure requirements prescribed in Rule 23.431 ("Disclosures of material information") state that a swap dealer or major swap participant must disclose to certain counterparties the pre-trade mid-market mark of a swap. This no-action letter states that a swap dealer

The NFA has announced that its "News, Facts, Actions" quarterly newsletter will now be sent on a more frequent basis as noteworthy updates and news break. Click here to view the latest version of the newsletter (links externally to NFA website).

The SEC announced that General Counsel Mark D. Cahn will leave the agency at the end of the year to return to the private sector. Click here to view press release in full and to learn more about Mark Cahn's accomplishments and activities at the SEC (links externally to SEC website).