European Parliament April 5, 2011 The European Parliament has provided an update in relation to the legislative timetable for amendments to Directive 98/26/EC, on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories: (i) the political agreement of the Council on the final act is expected to be set for 17 May; and (ii) the European Parliament is scheduled to have a first or single reading of the report on 25 May 2011.

Financial Services Authority April 2011 FSA Conduct Business Unit (CBU) The CBU has four divisions: (i) Supervision; (ii) Conduct Policy; (iii) Markets; and (iv) Authorisations. The CBU is responsible for the following: Delivering a forward-looking, judgment-focused approach to supervision and supporting the delivery of the supervisory regime through effective risk prioritisation, identification and mitigation. The Conduct Policy function for the FSA's Conduct of Business and Markets Infrastructure rules. The recognition and supervision of the exchanges, clearing houses and other market

FINRA Regulatory Notice 11-15 April 4, 2011 FINRA published a regulatory notice providing guidance on considerations when dealing with low-priced equity securities in customer margin and firm proprietary accounts. FINRA is reminding firms in this notice to "consider the risks associated with low-priced equity securities" when extending credit on such securities. In particular, FINRA urges firms to look at (i) volatility, (ii) concentrated positions in a single customer account, (iii) concentrated positions across all customer accounts, and (iv) daily volume and market capitalization for each

SEC Release No. 33-9199, 34-64149 March 30, 2011 The SEC proposed new rules to implement Exchange Act Section 10C (as added by Section 952 of Dodd-Frank). The new rules would direct national securities exchanges and associations to prohibit the listing of equity securities of issuers that are not in compliance with Section 10C's standards for compensation committees and compensation advisers. Comments on the proposal are due by April 29, 2011. Cross References SEC Press Release 2011-78 Exchange Act § 10C Dodd-Frank § 952 Statements of SEC Commissioners: Schapiro, Casey, Paredes, Aguilar

SEC Release 34-64140 March 29, 2011 Pursuant to Section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act, federal financial regulatory agencies published for comment a proposal to prohibit incentive-based payment arrangements (or any feature of such arrangements) at financial institutions determined to encourage inappropriate risks by a financial institution that could lead to material losses. The proposal would generally apply to financial institutions with more than $1 billion in assets, and would require compensation arrangements that are consistent with three principles: (1) that incentive compensation