The CFTC Division of Market Oversight ("DMO") extended existing time-limited no-action relief for swaps executed as part of certain package transactions. The relief isgranted by CFTC Letter 14-137 from requirements under CEA Sections 2(h)(8)("Exception") and 5(d)(9) ("Designation of Boards of Trade as Contract Markets"), and CFTC Rules Parts 37.3(a)(2) ("Requirements and Procedures for Registration") and 37.9("Methods of Execution for Required and Permitted Transactions"). The CFTC claimed that this extension of time-limited relief would "enable the Division to continue to further assess the

The SEC solicited comments on a proposed rule change by FINRA that would merge FINRA's dispute resolution subsidiary, FINRA Dispute Resolution, Inc., "into and with" its regulatory subsidiary, FINRA Regulation, Inc. Comments on the FINRA proposal must be submitted by November 3, 2015.

Kevin Stiroh, senior vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Integrated Policy Analysis Group, was named executive vice president and head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank Financial Institution Supervision Group, effective on October 26, 2015. Mr. Stiroh also will serve on the New York Federal Reserve Bank Management Committee.

A bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that would amend the Dodd-Frank Act to "improve the transparency, accountability, governance and operations" of the Office of Financial Research ("OFR"). According to a SIFMA statement about the legislation, the bill would, inter alia, require annual updates by the OFR on financial regulators' progress in adopting the Legal Entity Identifier.

FINRA proposed the adoption of Funding Portal Rules 100, 110, 200, 300, 800, 900 and 1200 (collectively, the "Funding Portal Rules") and related forms. The new rules were promulgated pursuant to the 2012 JOBS Act which "prohibits funding portals from a variety of activities, including offering investment advice or recommendations, soliciting transactions for securities displayed on their websites, compensating employees for securities solicitations, and holding investor funds or securities." As part of its plan, FINRA also proposed the adoption of new FINRA Rule 4518 ("Notification to FINRA in