FINRA RN 11-19 April 27, 2011 FINRA announced that the effective date for its recently approved rulemaking to adopt new books and records rules in the consolidated FINRA rulebook will be December 5, 2011. The new rules are substantially derived from NASD Rule 3110 and NYSE Rule 410 (and the interpretations thereto). Among other things, the rule change adopts (1) NASD 3110(a) as FINRA Rule 4511; (2) NASD Rule 3110(d-e) as FINRA Rule 4512; (3) NASD Rule 3110(f) as FINRA Rule 2268; (4) NASD Rule 3110(g) as FINRA Rule 4514; (5) NASD Rule 3110(h) as FINRA Rule 7440(a)(4); and (6) NASD Rule 3110(j)

SEC Release No. 34-64352 April 27, 2011 Pursuant to a requirement under Dodd-Frank, the SEC published a proposal to amend a number of Exchange Act rules to remove references to credit ratings in those rules. The proposal principally would amend four rules: Rule 15c3-1 (Net Capital) would be amended to, among other things, require firms to take a 15% haircut on proprietary positions in convertible paper, nonconvertible debt, and preferred stock unless a firm has a process in place for assessing creditworthiness that satisfies the new rule. As currently required, however, a 100% haircut would

CFTC Speeches April 26, 2011 Commissioner Sommers talks about the broad scope of statutory definitions of swap dealer, etc. under Dodd-Frank and the "very limited" exemptions being proposed. "While only a handful of entities will likely be classified as major swap participants, the breadth of the proposed swap dealer definition will capture many participants that in my opinion should not be considered dealers. Moreover, the de minimus exemption is so narrow that it is unlikely to have much utility." She also discusses the extraterritorial application of Dodd-Frank that threatens to involve

SEC Release No. 34-64341 April 26, 2011 The SEC published for comment a FINRA proposal to amend Rule 5131 (New Issue Allocations and Distributions) to (1) "simplify" the spinning provision and (2) delay the implementation date of certain provisions. The proposal would delete paragraph (b)(1) of the rule, regarding the maintenance of policies and procedures to ensure that "investment banking personnel" are not involved in new issue allocation decisions. FINRA stated that the amendment is intended to address concerns that the term "investment banking personnel" could be read to prohibit certain

CFTC Dodd Frank Rulemaking CFTC PR 6026-11 April 27, 2011 Fact Sheet: Proposed Rules Regarding Capital Requirements for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants Q&A: Capital Requirements for Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants Fact Sheet: Proposed Rulemaking on Amendments to Adapt Certain CFTC Regulations to the Dodd-Frank Act Q&A: Amendments to Adapt Certain CFTC Regulations to the Dodd-Frank Act Fact Sheet: Proposed Rules and Interpretive Guidance on Product Definitions Q&A: Proposed Rules and Interpretive Guidance on Product Definitions Fact Sheet: Proposed Rule on the Protection of