The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing this Advisory to U.S. financial institutions to take reasonable steps to guard against the potential flow of illicit assets that may be related to the current political and social unrest in Tunisia and abrupt changes in the government in Tunisia. Date January 20, 2011 Cross References (links may require a Cabinet subscription) FIN-2011-A001

Financial Markets Law Committee The FMLC has provided its comments to a consultation paper by the European Commission on principles which would underpin a proposed European Securities Directive. One of the concerns raised by the FMLC is that the proposed definition of securities should include an express exclusion of derivatives and other instruments not commonly regarded as securities.

Financial Markets Law Committee The FMLC has issued a paper which discusses aspects of financial collateral that require further clarification and possible solutions to the existing ambiguity. The report notes in particular a recent ruling by the UK High Court that floating charges can constitute a security financial collateral arrangement provided that the collateral is "delivered, transferred, held, registered or otherwise designated so as to be in the possession or under the control of the collateral taker or a person acting on its behalf".

News Article Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., accused House Republicans on Tuesday of trying to defund the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul that he championed last year. Frank, said that GOP lawmakers are out to sabotage the act under the guise of deficit-cutting. "The Republicans will defund the agencies effectively not because [of the deficit]--this is relatively small compared to what is spent at the Pentagon and elsewhere--but because they are philosophically opposed to this kind of regulation," he said. "And I don't think the public wants to go back to the days of unrestrained trading and

News Article In a forthcoming filing with the CFTC previewed on his website, Professor Craig Pirrong, one of the world's leading authorities on commodity trading, launched a spirited attack on the proposed new limits. Pirrong warns the plans are "fundamentally flawed". They go far beyond what is necessary to meet the CFTC's legitimate concerns and would constrain legitimate trading activity and market liquidity, raising costs to all market users. "There are less intrusive and expansive policies that would address the real concerns that the Commission has raised, but which would not interfere