The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("AICPA") held its 2015 "Digital CPA Conference," which featured, among others, guest speakers SEC Chair Mary Jo White and SEC Chief Accountant James V. Schnurr. The focus of the conference was innovation in accounting firms. In his remarks, Mr. Schnurr highlighted issues around: (i) effective disclosure, (ii) communications of audit committees and (iii) high-quality auditing standards.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a number of proposed bills. The approved bills include the following: H.R. 2205, the Data Security Act of 2015; H.R. 2187, the Fair Investment Opportunities for Professional Experts Act; H.R. 2287, the National Credit Union Administration Budget Transparency Act; H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2015; H.R. 3784, the SEC Small Business Advocate Act of 2015; H.R. 3791, which "allows more small banks and savings and loans to access capital that can be used to make loans and offer new loan products"; and H.R. 4168, the

Energy Metro Desk reviewed regulatory developments and noted recent speeches given by SEC and CFTC Commissioners. Highlights include: CFTC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar's "helpful tips" memo for future CFTC commissioners on choosing legal counsel wisely. The memo quotes Cadwalader attorney Robert Zwirb's recommendation that a new commissioner should be aware that the agency they are joining "has a culture of its own," and his warning that "members of the agency may be more inclined to perpetuate that culture rather than to challenge it." CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo's lecture on

The NFA issued new requirements for Forex Dealer Members ("FDMs") to report additional information in their daily Forex Financial Report. The NFA also is adding new line items to the supplementary information section of the monthly form 1-FR-FCM ("FOCUS Filing II"). These informational requirements, in conjunction with the changes to FDM capital requirements, will take effect on January 4, 2016.

FINRA reminded firms of their obligation to provide consolidated quotation information to customers. In a regulatory notice, FINRA asserted that firms are obliged to provide information under NMS Rule 603(c) ("Distribution, Consolidation and Display of Information with Respect to Quotations for and Transactions in National Market System Stocks"), also known as the "Vendor Display Rule." FINRA referenced SEC guidance specifying that a salesperson who provides a customer with a quotation that can be used to assess the current market must provide a consolidated display of market data; i.e., a