The Division published this letter stating that it would not recommend enforcement against Erste Abwicklungsanstalt ("EAA") for being an unregistered investment company, as EAA could rely on the exemption from registration provided by ICA Section 7(d)for non-U.S. investment companies. This entity is a winding-up agency created by the German Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilization with a purely public policy purpose relating to the German government's efforts to stabilize the financial markets after the onset of the financial crisis. The debt securities of EAA will be sold in the

The OCC is proposing to amend its retail foreign exchange rule for transactions with bank common trust funds, bank collective investment funds, and insurance company separate accounts and is making technical corrections to the rule. Comments Due: November 13, 2012. Cross-Reference(s): Dodd-Frank Title VII. View rule release here: 77 FR 62177.

The CFTC released responses to to Frequently Asked Questions concerning swap entities. The CFTC staff will continue to evaluate the interpretive questions that are received from interested persons and will release additional clarifying information as appropriate. View FAQs in full here (links externally to CFTC website).

The CFTC Office of General Counsel today issued the attached interpretative and no-action letter regarding Eligible Contract Participant (ECP) issues. One prong of the letter deals with the treatment of guarantees under Dodd-Frank in which either the guarantor or the guaranteed party is not an ECP (and provides exemptive relief). The other principal portion of the letter allows the recipient of a loan, including of a loan that has not been fully disbursed and will not be immediately disbursed, to treat the anticipated amount of the loan as part of its current net assets for purposes of

In a lawsuit against the SEC, industry groups allege that the SEC failed to properly weigh the costs and benefits of the final "extractive industries rule" requiring energy companies registered on American exchanges to publicly release commercially sensitive and detailed payment information about foreign energy investments. The industry groups filing the complaint include the Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, Independent Petroleum Association of America and the National Foreign Trade Council. They argue that the rule is too costly, would give rivals sensitive business