FINRA proposed amending FINRA Rule 5110 ("Corporate Financing Rule - Underwriting Terms and Arrangements") to make "substantive, organizational and terminology" changes. FINRA stated that the proposal is intended to enhance the rule by simplifying its provisions, while simultaneously maintaining critical protections for market participants. FINRA's proposed rule changes would: increase the time allowed for filing, as well as eliminate duplicative requirements; exempt from filing securities in an investment-grade rated series, as well as add an experienced issuer concept to the Form S-3

Ministers of finance of Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") member countries agreed to make permanent the mandate for the FATF to protect the international financial system from money laundering and terrorist financing. FATF Ministers reaffirmed "the central role of the FATF as the global international standard setter to take decisive, coordinated, and effective action against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD)." The mandate states, among other things, that: the objectives of the FATF are to safeguard financial

FINRA requested feedback on a proposed pilot program "to study changes to corporate bond block trade dissemination based on recommendations of the SEC Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (the "FIMSAC")." The FIMSAC recommendations include increasing block sizes from $5 million to $10 million for investment-grade ("IG") corporate bonds and from $1 million to $5 million for non-IG corporate bonds. The FIMSAC recommendations also add a 48-hour delay for dissemination of data regarding trades above the block-size caps. The proposed pilot program would consist of three test groups

FINRA proposed to make permanent FINRA Rule 6190 (Compliance with Regulation NMS Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility) and Rule 6121.01 (Resumption of Trading in Securities Subject to the Regulation NMS Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility). FINRA's action is in response to the permanent approval of the Regulation NMS Plan to Address Market Volatility. FINRA filed the proposal for immediate effectiveness, stating that it is not proposing any substantive changes to the text of these rules.

A broker-dealer agreed to settle FINRA charges for net capital violations and failing to maintain blanket fidelity bond coverage. According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, FINRA alleged that the net capital violations arose in part because the firm did not include private placement commissions payable as deductions from its net capital until the firm itself had been paid, although its registered representatives had not agreed that they would waive payment of commissions owed them until the firm was paid. In addition, FINRA claimed that the firm did not maintain its fidelity