On December 22, 2020, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission that further postpones the implementation of mandatory margin for Covered Agency Transactions under FINRA Rule 4210 until October 26.
Continue Reading FINRA Postpones Implementation of Mandatory Margin for Covered Agency Transactions

On December 23, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a no-action letter regarding family offices and Regulation Best Interest.

Specifically, the SEC staff indicated that the SEC would not treat Institutional Family Offices as “retail customers” for broker dealers for purposes of Regulation Best Interest and broker dealers’ Form CRS. An Institutional Family Office

On November 30, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Italy’s Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding cooperation and information exchange in connection with supervising regulated firms that operate in the United States and Italy.
Continue Reading CFTC and Italy’s CONSOB Sign MOU for Supervision of Cross-Border Firms

On November 30, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight extended previously provided no-action relief for swap execution facilities (SEF) from certain timing requirements to file fourth-quarter financial reports and annual compliance reports.
Continue Reading CFTC Extends Timing Requirements for Certain SEF Year-End Reports

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a virtual open meeting on Tuesday, December 8 at 9:30 a.m. (ET).

At the meeting, the CFTC will consider, among other things, final rules on (1) electronic trading risk principles, (2) audit trail, financial resources and CCO requirements for swap execution facilities, (3) exemptions from swap trade execution requirement, (4) Part 190 bankruptcy regulations, and (5) margin requirements for uncleared swaps for swap dealers and major swap participants.
Continue Reading CFTC to Hold an Open Commission Meeting on December 8

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it is conducting a review of firms’ systems and procedures for providing waivers and rebates to customers through Rights of Reinstatement (ROR) on mutual fund purchases.
Continue Reading FINRA Conducts Review of Waiver and Rebate Systems and Procedures with Respect to Mutual Fund ROR Purchases

On September 29, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, October 6 at 10:30 a.m. (ET). The meeting will consider amendments to compliance requirements for Commodity Pool Operators on Form CPO-PQR and the memorandum of understanding between the CFTC and the Officer of Financial Research Regarding the Sharing of Data and Information Collected on Form CPO-PQR.
Continue Reading CFTC to Hold Open Commission Meeting on October 6

On August 26, the Securities and Exchange Commission published notice in the Federal Register regarding proposed rule changes that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had filed with the SEC. The changes would delete the order audit trail system (OATS) rules in the FINRA Rule 7400 Series and FINRA Rule 4554 once FINRA members are