The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve Board announced that they are seeking comments on a proposal to amend the definitions of "funds transfer" and "transmittal of funds" under the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act. As explained in the release, the rule change would have the effect of undoing certain changes to these definitions that had been the unintended result of recent legislation, with the end effect that the status quo would be maintained. Comments Due: January 25, 2013.

The CFTC issued the attached time-limited no-action relief to the operators of funds of funds, stating that the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) will not recommend that the CFTC take action against the CPO of a fund of funds for failure to register as such until the later of June 30, 2013, or six months after the effective date (or compliance date, if later) of any revised guidance that DSIO issues on the application of the de minimis thresholds to funds of funds. This relief applies within the context of CFTC Rules 4.5 and 4.13(a)(3), provided that the CPO files a

The CFTC issued the attached no-action letter regarding family offices, stating that the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight will not recommend that the CFTC take action against the operators of family offices for failure to register as CPOs under the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC rules thereunder, subject to certain conditions described in the letter. The most important conditions are that (i) the CPO must be acting with regard to a "family office" as defined inAdvisers Act Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1 and (ii) a notice claiming the exemption must be submitted to the CFTC with

The CFTC Division of Market Oversight (DMO) announced the issuance of a time-limited no-action letter granting relief, for bespoke or complex swaps, from certain reporting obligations under CFTC Rules Parts 43and 45. The relief expires the earlier of the time that it is no longer required or June 30, 2013. The no-action letter provides that DMO will not recommend enforcement action against either (i) a reporting party for failure to report certain data fields required by Part 43, or (ii) a reporting counterparty for failure to report certain data fields required by Part 45. The letter further

The SEC has named Todd K. Scharf, Sr. as Chief Information Security Officer and Associate Director in the agency’s Office of Information Technology. “Todd’s knowledge of market operations, along with his leadership efforts to improve the SEC’s information security operations already have had a significant effect on the agency, and we’re pleased to welcome him to this new position,” said Thomas A. Bayer, the SEC’s Chief Information Officer. Recently, the SEC's own Office of Inspector General had issued a report severely criticizing the SEC for its internal breaches of information security