According to the press release, the staff is investigating whether the IA's compliance and security policies and procedures were reasonably designed to protect against recent instances of attempted and actual theft of client assets. One such incident involved an attempt by an apparent hacker to cause the IA to wire client funds to an outside account. Lofchie Comment: You can't really tell what's going on from the SEC release, but I did think it was interesting that the adviser was faulted for having insufficient protections against a hacker (though the SEC release made this seem to be more of

The SEC approved amendments to NASD Rule 2711 and incorporated NYSE Rule 472 (governing research) to conform to the requirements of the JOBS Act and to make certain additional changes to quiet period restrictions. Essentially, the rule changes liberalize the rules around the production of research as to "emerging growth companies" so as to conform to Section 105 of the JOBS ACT. The amended rule text is available here. View notice in full here (links externally to FINRA website). See also: Press Release.

ICE Futures released the following FAQ on Block Trading (Rule 4.07). View FAQ in full here (links to PDF).

ICE Clear U.S. ("ICUS") announced that the CFTC has granted an extension to the effective date of the Gross Customer Margin ("GCM") requirements scheduled to go into effect on November 8, 2012. The CFTC is requiring full compliance no later than January 15, 2013. As a result of this extension, the ICE Clear U.S. Platform Release scheduled for November 3, 2012 also will be delayed. Click here to view notice in full (links externally to ICE website).

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler delivered a speech (which is basically a repeat of the speech in yesterday's news at the Ontario Securities Commission) before the Futures Industry Association (FIA) Expo 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. Chairman Gensler reviewed three key initiatives that commissioners will finalize by the end of this year. These initiatives include: the clearing requirement, transparency reforms and the cross-border application of Dodd-Frank. Gensler also discussed enhancing customer protection and ensuring for the integrity of benchmark interest rates. View speech in full here (links