The CFTC is amending its regulations governing the operations and activities of commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) in order to have those regulations reflect changes made to the Commodity Exchange Act by the Dodd-Frank Act. Effective Date: November 5, 2012. Compliance Date: CPOs and CTAs must comply with these amendments to Part 4 by no later than the most recent effective date of the regulations issued by the Commission to further define the term "swap" in section 1a(49) of the CEA, pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. Cross-Reference(s): 76 FR 11701 (Proposing

Bank of England Governor, Andrew G. Haldane, delivered a speech titled "The Dog and the Frisbee" at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's 36th economic policy symposium. The attached speech asserts that the complex regulations developed over recent decades may not only be costly and cumbersome, but also less effective than simpler regulations. He argues that regulatory response should be grounded in simplicity because complexity generates uncertainty, causes large banks to be "arguably, too big to manage," and requires ever-expanding resources both in terms of compliance and regulatory

The SEC approved new FINRA Rule 5123 (text of rule included in attached FINRA notice) to require each FINRA member firm that sells an issuer's securities in a private placement, subject to certain exemptions, to file with FINRA a copy of any private placement memorandum, term sheet or other offering document the firm used within 15 calendar days of the date of the sale, or to indicate that it did not use any such offering documents. Firms must file the required offering documents electronically with FINRA through the FINRA Firm Gateway. The rule becomes effective December 3, 2012, and applies

The OCC announced its selection of Ellen M. Warwick as Director for Enforcement and Compliance. Ms. Warwick will oversee the OCC's Law Department Division that conducts investigations, recommends administrative actions, and litigates those enforcement actions. She will report to OCC's Deputy Chief Counsel, Daniel P. Stipano. Ms. Warwick formerly served as an Assistant Director for Enforcement and Compliance at the OCC. View press release here (links externally to OCC website).

NFA announced that its Board unanimously ratified a proposal to amend NFA's Articles of Incorporation (Articles) to adopt the Special Committee's recommendations in their entirety, including Articles III (Purposes), VI (Members), VII (Board of Directors), VIII (Executive Committee), X (Nominating Committee), XI (Bylaws), XV (Financing), XVI (Miscellaneous), XVII (Adoption, Amendment and Repeal of Articles) and XVIII (Definitions) to integrate new member types into NFA's membership and governance structure. The rule changes are intended primarily to add references to the new types of CFTC