ICE announced that it has accelerated its plans to transition cleared OTC energy swaps and options to futures, which will take effect on October 15, 2012. Lofchie Comment: Craig Pirrong, an academic blogger whose blog is called "Streetwise Professor," posted a note on this "transition," pointing out that it is really a transition in name only, and that it is motivated by the CFTC's completely disparate regulatory treatment of futures (which are favored) and swaps (which are disfavored). Given that the two products are economically equivalent, exchanges (particularly non-U.S. exchanges) would

Effective September 15, 2012, ICE OTC will require Clearing and Reporting firms to report large trader positions. This reporting requirement will apply for all 775 cleared OTC products, including 258 products that were not previously reportable, and 28 newly listed cleared OTC products. The attached advisory indicates which positions are reportable to the CFTC directly and which are reportable to ICE alone. View advisory notice in full here (links externally to ICE website).

The SEC announced that in fiscal year 2013, the fees that public companies and other issuers pay to register their securities with the Commission will be set at $136.40 per million dollars. Cross-Reference(s): Securities Act Section 6(b); Exchange Act Sections 13(e) and 14(g). View Order in full here (links externally to SEC website). Additional Materials: SEC Press Release.

The American Bankers Association (ABA) is requesting guidance on rulemaking in an interpretive letter on exemptive relief from the CFTC and SEC on the eligible contract participant (ECP) definition in CEA Section 1a(18), which is incorporated by reference in SEA Section 3(a)(65). As a result of the Dodd-Frank Act, only ECPs will be able to enter into over-the-counter (OTC) swaps. Without clarity as to the scope of the ECP definition, banks will not be able to enter into swaps with persons that may not be ECPs (given the risk of violating the CEA by entering into prohibited transactions). This

The SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued an alert intended to strengthen compliance with MSRB Rule G-37, which limits political contributions by municipal securities professionals to the campaigns of public officials of issuers with whom they are doing or seek to do business ("Pay-to-Play"). The Risk Alert provides a good summary of the rule, as well as a list of the types of violations of the rule which the OCIE has identified and a list of compliance practices in place at various firms. Among the violations that OCIE has identified are (i) doing work for