The CFTC entered an Order requiring a Russia-based investment adviser firm and its owner to pay a $280,000 civil monetary penalty for failing to disclose its principal and material changes in its algorithmic trading program in its registration filings. The Order stated that the investment adviser firm, a registered Commodity Trading Advisor, failed to disclose in registration filings with the National Futures Association ("NFA") that a finance service company was acting as its principal. In failing to update registration to disclose its principal and by failing to disclose the finance service

The SEC proposed amendments to its Rules of Practice governing administrative proceedings. The proposed amendments would: adjust the timing of administrative proceedings, including by extending the time before a hearing occurs in appropriate cases; permit parties to take depositions of witnesses as part of discovery; require parties in administrative proceedings to submit filings and serve each other electronically; require parties to redact certain sensitive personal information from filings; include procedures related to the mechanics of the proposed expanded deposition practice, such as

SEC Chair Mary Jo White announced the launch of a new SEC rulemaking database that will "provide enhanced transparency" and give the public "one-stop shopping for better understanding of the development of new rules." Chair White elaborated that "this new resource will provide the public with the tools to track not just final rules, but also the development of . . . policies through concept, proposal, additional requests for comment and any necessary interim measures."

The MSRB solicited comments on draft rule amendments to Rule G-15 ("Confirmation, Clearance, Settlement and Other Uniform Practice Requirements with Respect to Transactions with Customers") to require broker-dealers and municipal dealers to disclose the mark-up or mark-down on retail customer confirmations for specified principal transactions. The proposed amendments would require disclosure on retail customer confirmations of: the mark-up for principal transactions when the dealer transacts in a municipal security in a specified trade size on the same side of the market as the customer within

The CFTC simultaneously filed and settled charges that a provisionally registered Swap Execution Facility ("SEF") failed to enforce CFTC prohibitions on wash trading and prearranged trading on the SEF's platform in violation of CEA Section 5h(f)(2). The CFTC found that the SEF: offered a non-deliverable forward contract based on the relative value of the U.S. Dollar and Bitcoin for trading; arranged for two market participants to enter into transactions, telling one that the trade would be "to test the pipes by doing a round-trip trade with the same price in, same price out, ( i.e. no P/L