Ross Pazzol

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On September 28, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority proposed an amendment to modify fees and transaction credits applicable to FINRA members that use the FINRA/NYSE Trade Reporting Facilitiy (TRF). The FINRA/NYSE TRF is a facility members use to report over-the-counter trades in NMS stocks.
Continue Reading FINRA Proposes Rule to Modify Fees and Transaction Credits for the FINRA/NYSE Trade Reporting Facility

On September 28, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules enhancing standards for securities clearing agencies deemed systemically important or engaged in certain complex transactions (Covered Clearing Agencies). The SEC also proposed a rule that would subject other types of securities clearing agencies (including SEC-registered central counterparties) to the same standards.
Continue Reading SEC Adopts Rules for Enhanced Regulatory Framework for Securities Clearing Agencies

On September 14, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Divisions of Market Oversight and Swap and Intermediary Oversight issued Staff Letter 16-72, which announced that Yieldbroker PTY Limited (Yieldbroker), a multilateral swaps trading facility licensed and regulated in Australia, has qualified for the long-term, no-action relief provided under Staff Letter 15-29. Staff Letter 15-29 provides qualifying swaps trading platforms that are licensed and regulated in Australia with long-term, no-action relief from swap execution facility (SEF) registration requirements. (For a more complete discussion of Staff Letter 15-29, see the May 22, 2015 edition of Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest.) Yieldbroker will be the first foreign-regulated, multilateral SEF that permits direct access to US persons to qualify for SEF registration relief.
Continue Reading CFTC Staff Issues No-Action Letter Relating to Yieldbroker PTY Limited’s Relief From SEF Registration Requirements

On August 29, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the adoption of amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) Rule 13n-4 (Amended Rule) that implement the statutory requirement that security-based swap data repositories (SBSDR) provide certain data involving security-based swaps, including individual counterparty trade and position data (Data), to certain regulators and other entities provided that certain conditions are met.
Continue Reading SEC Adopts Amendments to Rules on Access to Data Obtained by Security-Based Swap Data Repositories

On August 23, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight and Division of Clearing and Risk (the Divisions) issued a response to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), which had requested the CFTC to clarify whether a covered swap entity (CSE) is permitted to include security-based swaps within the same product set as swaps for the purpose of calculating initial margin for uncleared swaps.
Continue Reading CFTC Issues No-Action Letter Regarding Use of Security-Based Swaps in Initial Margin Calculations for Uncleared Swaps

The Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and the Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published a report entitled Resilience and recovery of central counterparties (CCPs): Further guidance on the PFMI (Report), which seeks to clarify how CCPs should implement the CPMI-IOSCO Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI). The PFMI strengthen the international standards for risk management for financial market infrastructures (FMI) and are designed to make FMI more resilient in financial crises.
Continue Reading CPMI and IOSCO Publish Report on CCP Resiliency Planning

On August 8, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued Regulatory Notice 16-29, which solicits comments to proposed amendments to FINRA’s gifts, gratuities and non-cash compensation rules (FINRA Rule 3220 (Influencing or Rewarding Employees of Others), proposed FINRA Rule 3221 (Restrictions on Non-Cash Compensation), and proposed FINRA Rule 3222 (Business Entertainment)).
Continue Reading FINRA Requests Comments on Proposed Gift, Gratuities and Non-Cash Compensation Rule Amendments

On July 19, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) reporting rules to require the reporting of transactions in all US Treasury Securities other than US savings bonds. This proposal would include transactions in US Treasury bills, notes and bonds, as well as separate principal and interest components of a US Treasury Security that have been separated pursuant to the Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities (STRIPS) program operated by the Treasury Department.
Continue Reading FINRA Proposes To Require Members To Report Transactions in US Treasury Securities to TRACE