FINRA published this comment request on a revised proposal addressing debt research conflicts of interest, which includes some fairly substantial amendments to FINRA's previously proposed rule as to research on debt securities as originally set forth in FINRA Reg. Notice 11-11. Among the changes made by new rule proposal to original rule proposals are: an exemption from the rule would be provided for research distributed to a very limited tier of institutional investors; an exemption would be provided as to firms that engaged in limited principal debt trading activity; the definition of "debt

The CFTC has issued this FAQ document to respond to questions from market participants and other interested parties on the reporting of cleared swaps as required under CFTC Rules Part 45 ("Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements"). This document is intended to help market participants better understand how to report cleared swaps, who has the obligation to report and the timing of reporting. Cross-Reference(s): Dodd-Frank Section 728 (Swap data repositories). View FAQ here(links externally to CFTC website). See also: Yesterday's news link to an FAQ on the start of swap data

The CFTC issued temporary no-action relief until November 8, 2012 with respect to the new statutory requirement imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act for the segregation of cleared swaps collateral held at a DCO. Dodd-Frank amended the CEA to require the segregation of customer collateral used to margin cleared swaps. In addition, an FCM and a DCO that receives Customer Swaps Collateral with respect to cleared swap positions must treat such Customer Swaps Collateral as belonging to the relevant customer and cannot use that Customer Swaps Collateral to margin or secure its own swap positions or any

The SEC announced that it has adopted the revised EDGAR Filer Manual for Release 12.2, which will become effective when the adopting SEC release is published in the Federal Register (which is expected to appear on October 15). From this date, draft registration statements and amendments (and related correspondence) must be submitted or filed via the EDGAR system. View announcement here (links externally to SEC website).

The CFTC issued guidance that REITS would not be deemed "pools" subject to their meeting the following conditions: The REIT primarily derives its income from the ownership and management of real estate and uses derivatives for the limited purpose of "mitigat[ing] their exposure to changes in interest rates or fluctuations in currency"; The REIT is operated so as to comply with all of the requirements of a REIT election under the Internal Revenue Code, including 26 U.S.C. §856(c)(2) (the 75-percent test); and The REIT has identified itself as an equity REIT in Item G of its last U.S. income tax