The SEC Division of Trading and Markets (the "Division") granted no-action relief to an introducing broker from the requirement to transmit a customer's check (representing funds from a retirement account being rolled over into an IRA) to the clearing broker-dealer by noon of the next business day after receipt. The introducing broker argued that a day was not sufficient for it to perform a required suitability analysis with respect to the customer's reinvestment of the funds. The relief from SEA Rule 15c3-3 was granted, allowing the introducing broker to hold the funds for an additional seven

The U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") updated an Advisory warning parties involved in petroleum shipments to Syria of the risks of U.S. sanctions, including the threat of "secondary sanctions" against non-U.S. individuals and entities engaged in such activity. OFAC provides a description of deceptive shipping practices, including of efforts to change certain vessel names to obfuscate the illicit activities of the owners. OFAC also recommends that, "[a]s a standard practice, those involved in the maritime petroleum shipping community . . . are advised to conduct

IOSCO summarized its 2019 initiatives in the following five priority areas: crypto-assets, artificial intelligence and machine learning, market fragmentation, passive investing and index providers, and retail distribution and digitalization.

In response to a request for comments, SIFMA urged the SEC to modify Form 10-Q and to "modernize" the disclosure framework to mitigate the unnecessary burden on reporting companies while retaining investor protections. SIFMA said that: companies should continue to have flexibility with respect to the issuance and content of earnings releases; the "Supplemental Approach" should not be adopted on the grounds that it would not help achieve the SEC's goal of "reducing inefficiencies and enhancing investor protection"; the SEC's rules relating to the reporting framework should be "harmonized with

The Managed Funds Association (the "MFA") commented on (i) the SEC's proposed interpretation of the standard of conduct for investment advisers and (ii) related letters by the Institutional Limited Partners Association ("ILPA Letter") and the American Investment Council ("AIC Letter"). The MFA's comments are a supplement to its letter from August 7, 2018. The ILPA Letter and the AIC Letter take opposing positions, with the ILPA Letter advocating for the SEC to withdraw its Heitman Capital Management No-Action Letter (the "Heitman Letter"). In the Heitman Letter, SEC staff did not object to the