The American Enterprise Institute ("AEI") published a special report on a variety of polls tracking Americans' opinions on the Dodd-Frank Act, financial and political institutions, leaders, and the success of government regulation. The results included in the report were derived from a variety of sources covering surveys conducted beginning in 2010 (before the Dodd-Frank Act was adopted), with the most recent surveys conducted in February 2015. Regarding polls that were conducted most recently (in 2014 and 2015), the principal takeaways include: (i) a substantial majority of Americans have

The CFTC issued an order to extend the designation of the utility operated by DTCC-SWIFT as the provider of legal entity identifiers ("LEIs"), pursuant to the CFTC's swap data recordkeeping and reporting rules. The DTCC-SWIFT utility – which initially had been referred to as the CICI utility on the utility's Web site and in educational and other materials – is now known to the public as the Global Markets Entity Identifier utility. See: CFTC Press Release. See also: Global Markets Entity Identifier Utility Web Site. Related news: CFTC Extends Designation of DTCC-SWIFT as LEI Provider (Fed. Reg

SIFMA expressed public support for FINRA's recent proposal to change the format for the representative-level qualification examination. FINRA solicited comments on a concept proposal to restructure the current representative-level qualification examination program into a format whereby all potential representative-level registrants would take (i) a general knowledge examination and (ii) an appropriate specialized knowledge examination to reflect their particular registered role. In response, SIFMA stated, among other things, that: (i) the proposed changes will make FINRA's examination program

The SEC issued a no-action letter granting FOLIO fn Investments ("Folio") relief from Exchange Act Rule 15c2-4. The no-action letter concerns the holding of customer funds received in contingent offerings. The relief will allow Folio to hold customer funds, pending the closing of the offering, in an FDIC-insured bank account. See: SEC No-Action Letter: FOLIOfn Investments, Inc.- Request for No-Action Relief from Rule 15c2-4(b)(1). See also: Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c2-4 ("Transmission or Maintenance of Payments Received in Connection with Underwritings").

The SEC issued a no-action relief letter waiving the mandatory retention of a risk interest, as ordinarily required under Section 15G ("Credit Risk Retention") of the Securities and Exchange Act. The no-action relief was issued in connection with a refinancing of collateralized loan obligation where the transaction had been originally priced prior to the December 2014 publication of the credit risk retention rules. See: SEC No-Action Relief Response.