The FRB issued a notice intended to help ensure that the Dodd-Frank rulemaking process is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. According to the notice, the staff of the Federal Reserve Board who communicate with the public on any matter subject to proposed rulemaking under Dodd-Frank will submit a written summary of the rulemaking meeting. Contacts and meeting summaries will be posted on the following FRB webpages based upon the content of the rulemaking or proposals: Systemic Designations, Enhanced Prudential Standards, and Banking Supervision and Regulation Derivatives Markets and

C2: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change Making Technical, Non-Substantive Clarifications to Its Fees Schedule C2: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change Relating to Its Automatic Order Handling Process CBOE: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change Relating to Its Automatic Order Handling Process CBOE: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change to Amend the CBOE Stock Exchange Fees Schedule CME: Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Amendment - Rules to Facilitate Customer Portfolio Margining of Interest Rate Futures and Interest Rate Swaps DTC: Accelerated Approval of a

The Division of Market Oversight issued an interpretation addressing whether, under Part 151 of the Commission's regulations, an electric company may treat as a bona fide hedging transactions certain derivative transactions that reduce the price risk associated with its unfilled anticipated requirements for natural gas, even though it has entered into some long-term, firm purchases of natural gas at an unfixed price. The interpretation notes that unfilled anticipated requirements may be recognized as the basis of a bona fide hedging position or transaction under Commission Regulation 151.5(a)

The NASAA requested the SEC to go slowly in drafting a rule to lift the ban on companies advertising to investors before public offerings. The law included a 90-day deadline for the SEC to implement the rule lifting the ban. Because it missed the deadline, the SEC is reported to be considering adopting an interim resolution that would immediately lift the advertising ban. However, NASAA has strongly urged the SEC to follow its normal course of publishing the proposed rule for public comment before it becomes effective. In this regard, NASAA's letter takes it as a given that the JOBS Act will

CME Clearing Europe has announced that it has extended the range of eligible collateral types to include gold bullion in connection with the clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. [Lofchie Comment: One of the criticisms made of swaps regulation under Dodd-Frank is that it simultaneously (i) increases the requirements that swaps parties post collateral, and (ii) at least in the United States, substantially decreases what firms will be able to post as collateral, potentially raising materially the costs of acceptable collateral. Accordingly, it will be interesting to see if there are