In an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, the Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") solicited feedback on whether to amend Regulation D ("Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions") to lower the rate of interest paid on excessive balances maintained at FRB banks by eligible institutions. The eligible institutions hold a significant proportion of the assets in the form of balances at FRB banks. Comments must be submitted to the FRB no later than 60 days following publication of the proposal in the Federal Register.

The North American Securities Administration ("NASAA") offered a legislative agenda for the 116th Congress. According to NASAA, Congress should: support "enhanced standards of conduct for broker-dealers"; "encourage, monitor, and responsibly regulate financial innovation" (NASAA stated it would discourage so-called regulatory "sandboxes," and call for "rigorous oversight" of cryptocurrency and ICOs); "address intergenerational investor issues" (including addressing senior financial exploitation and providing investor education for millennials); "maintain enforcement independence of state

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") provided technical specifications to help prepaid account issuers submit their prepaid account agreements online. The Prepaid Accounts Rule, which will become effective on April 1, 2019, will give prepaid debit cards and associated accounts federal protections that already exist for checking accounts and credit cards. The new CFPB technical specifications address the form and manner for submissions of prepaid account agreements to the CFPB, pursuant to Regulation E and Regulation Z. Under CFPB Rule 1005.19, added by the Prepaid Accounts Rule

The SEC interim final rule modifying the timing for submissions by SEC-registered investment companies of reports on Form N-PORT, and amending Form N-LIQUID, was published in the Federal Register ( see here for previous coverage). The effective date of the interim final rule was March 6, 2019.

In remarks at the Council of Institutional Investors Spring Conference, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce highlighted developments in the proxy system, touching on disclosure reform efforts, dual-class shares and mandatory arbitration. As to the SEC rules that empower investors to require that issuers put an investor's proxy proposal on the issuer's ballot for shareholder consideration, Ms. Peirce stated that the current quite low share ownership thresholds "encourage" small shareholders to advance proposals that advance those shareholders' personal or political beliefs, not the beliefs of the