Historically, FX trading has not been subject to the same level of comprehensive regulation as have been the securities and futures markets. That is obviously changing with swaps regulation and with the publication of best practices standards for the FX market. See . Every institution that trades in FX should review their procedures, compare those procedures against comparable procedures in other markets, and see whether the differences are justified by the markets or whether they are a…

While at the SEC, Mr. Bussey was very involved in the creation of the SEC's rulemakings governing cross-border swaps activities. The SEC's rulemaking process produced a set of rules that were much clearer in their requirements than the CFTC's guidance on the subject, which relied heavily on a "facts and circumstances" approach to jurisdiction, often with little guidance as to what circumstances were actually meaningful. Mr. Bussey's experience with cross-border rulemaking at the SEC may help…

In a somewhat cryptically worded letter, the SEC staff clarified that securities that have no lending value for purposes of the broker-dealer margin regulations, but that serve to collateralize a margin loan, may be rehypothecated by a broker-dealer. Any such rehypothecation would of course remain subject to the limits set out in Rule 15c3-3, which are intended to ensure that even an insolvent broker-dealer be able to make its custodial customers whole.

Mr. Mohamed is a compelling speaker. His address at the Credit Division's annual conference provided valuable insight on this fast-moving space.