Given that every regulatory scheme has an (anti-) pay-to-play rule, the question is not whether these rules will be adopted; it is, rather, whether there will be any discrepancies between these rules and similar rules that may operate as a trap for the unwary.

FINRA's debt research rule filing follows a concept proposal (FINRA Reg. Notice 11-11) and two previous debt research rule proposals (FINRA Reg. Notices 12-09 and 12-42). Firms should begin considering how they would go about incorporating the requirements of the proposed rule into their research policies and procedures. As a threshold question, firms should consider the categories of research they produce (e.g., equity, debt, derivatives or macro). While some types of research reports fall…

Governor Powell's speech recognizes a number of the major risks of CCPs to the financial system. As he points out, the incentive system that might motivate CCPs to keep themselves safe is so uncertain that CCPs would still require "careful consideration," and a "number of [unidentified] factors would need to be considered in implementing [a skin-in-the-game] requirement" for the owners of CCPs. Although Governor Powell asserts that it is important for no institution to be too big to…

As noted in the no-action request, the CFTC has prohibited CFTC-regulated exchanges from trading contracts involving certain political events. See "Order Prohibiting the Listing or Trading of Certain Political Event Contracts." According to the CFTC order, the reason that trading in contracts for political events is prohibited is because the "unpredictability of the specific economic consequences of an election means that the Political Event Contracts cannot reasonably be expected to be used…