CME Group announced it will launch deliverable Interest Rate Swap Futures contracts on November 13, 2012. The contracts will be listed on, and subject to, the rules and regulations of CBOT and will be submitted to and reviewed by the CFTC. According to CME, Interest Rate Swap Futures fill a gap in the rates market, as they will allow clients to access swap exposure while providing cross-margining. Lofchie Comment: The product illustrates again the eccentricity of subjecting "swaps" to extremely burdensome regulations as compared to "futures," where the products are essentially similar. To find

The Chicago Fed letter discusses the need for risk controls at every step of the trading process (i.e., at trading firms, broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, exchanges and clearinghouses). The letter outlines some controls that might have aided in mitigating the recent losses related to high-speed trading, including: (1) limits on the number of orders that can be sent to an exchange within a specified period of time; (2) a "kill switch" that could stop trading at one or more levels; (3) intraday position limits that set the maximum position a firm can take during one day; and (4)

SIFMA has published this comment letter to the MSRB in regard to: (i) a draft proposal to collect 529 college savings plan data; and (ii) draft Rule G-45 and Form G-45. (See MSRB Notice 2012-40). SIFMA indicated its belief that 529 plans are being made subject to product information requirements that are greater than those imposed on other similar products. Nonetheless, SIFMA seemed to acknowledge that some rule would be passed; and primarily focused on specific potential amendments to the proposal rather than objecting to the rule in its entirety. SIFMA also stated that its suggestions

The United States and the United Kingdom announced on Friday, September 14, 2012 that they had signed the first bilateral intergovernmental agreement under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA"). The U.S.-U.K. agreement is closely based on the reciprocal Model Agreement set forth in a July 2012 Joint Statement by the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. FATCA aims to combat tax evasion by U.S. tax residents directly or indirectly holding accounts at foreign financial institutions by requiring such foreign financial institutions to

The SEC announced (pursuant to Section 107(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) that on August 28, 2012, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) filed with the SEC the proposed rules described in items I and II below, which items have been prepared by the PCAOB. The SEC is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rules from interested persons. Comments Due: October 9, 2012 Cross-Reference(s): Dodd-Frank Section 982 (Oversight of brokers and dealers). View release here (links externally to Federal Register website).