In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, SIFMA expressed opposition to the " SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing Act," which would require the SEC to conduct investor testing of any retail disclosure document. SIFMA stated that while it favored the general concept of the bill, it opposed passage on the ground that the bill could: delay the implementation of rules intended to protect investors, including the SEC's pending Regulation Best Interest and the related proposal mandating the distribution of a Form Client Relationship Summary; and be interpreted to subject all current

The CFTC's Market Intelligence Branch in the Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") analyzed the impact of automated orders in the commodity futures market. The DMO staff studied international transactional data for 30 futures contracts over a period of approximately five years, comparing the effects of manual versus automated order placement on the futures market. The DMO staff found that: the percentage of automatically placed orders has gone up for all commodity futures markets; compared to manual orders, automated orders are typically smaller in size and their "resting times" are shorter

A U.S. industrial tool manufacturer, and its China-based subsidiary, agreed to settle alleged violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. According to the OFAC, Jiangsu Guoqiang Tools Co., Ltd. ("GQ") - the subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. ("Stanley") - exported 23 shipments of power tools and spare parts directly to Iran, or to other destinations, with knowledge that such goods were "intended specifically for supply, transshipment, or reexportation" to Iran. OFAC stated that while Stanley voluntarily self-disclosed the alleged violations, they are considered to

A broker-dealer agreed to settle FINRA charges for trade reporting and capital rule violations. According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, McDonald Partners LLC ("McDonald"): neglected to report certain municipal securities transactions to the MSRB's Real-Time Transaction Reporting System; conducted securities business while failing to keep the required minimum net capital; and prepared incorrect general ledger, trial ledger and net capital computations. To settle the charges, McDonald agreed to a censure and to pay a civil monetary penalty of $22,500.

Its impossible to make fun of either of them without losing clients and friends. Just not worth it. Instead, let's make an upbeat playlist! Enjoy: