CFTC Commissioner Chilton gave a speech in which he said the process of CFTC rulemaking had been altered by what he described as the "observer effect" (which, according to Wikipedia, is the concept that a process may be affected by persons observing it, and which is distinguishable from the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle though sometimes confused with it). Commissioner Chilton also said that the CFTC's rulemaking would increase transparency in the swaps markets, criticized the corporate culture at financial institutions, said that professionals at financial institutions were overpaid, said

The SEC issued an order providing regulatory relief to publicly traded companies, investment companies, accountants, transfer agents, and others affected by Hurricane Sandy. To address compliance issues caused by Sandy, the order conditionally exempts affected persons from the requirements of the federal securities laws with regard to: Exchange Act filing requirements for the period from October 29, 2012, to November 20, 2012, provided that the filer discloses the reasons why, in good faith, it cannot file on a timely basis; Proxy and information statement delivery requirements for companies

SIFMA issued a revised version of its standard Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreement ("MSFTA"), along with an accompanying explanatory statement. As noted in the statement, the most substantial revision to the agreement is that it provides for margining by both parties. Lofchie Comment: Regulated broker-dealers must consider how the FINRA margin regulations apply to forward transactions as well as the capital treatment of such transactions. Historically, there has been uncertainty as to whether or not the counterparty to a forward transaction with a broker-dealer is a "customer" for

The Department of Justice and the SEC have issued updated guidance on the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The updated guidance is essentially an expansion of a prior Lay Person’s Guide, but now includes the elements and requirements of the FCPA, the standards of prosecution, and the opinion release procedures (which were previously published separately). Beyond that, the guidance lists useful hypotheticals that are representative of cases that have been the subject of prior enforcement actions in the past and also discusses the magnitude, and provides examples, of past

CFTC's Office of General Counsel ("OGC") supplied the attached FAQ in response to questions from market participants and other interested parties regarding the classification of certain physical commercial agreements for the supply and consumption of energy that contain both a variable cost and a fixed cost component. According to the CFTC, market participants were concerned that every agreement with a variable cost component would be regulated as a commodity option. But not to worry: In the view of the CFTC staff (which may not reflect the view of the CFTC), if (1) a facility usage agreement