The SEC announced that the Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will hold a public meeting by telephone conference. The meeting is scheduled for July 15, 2015. The meeting will focus on public company disclosure effectiveness and the regulatory treatment of so-called "finders" that assist companies in capital raising activities. See: SEC Press Release; Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.

ISDA published a recommendation for an amendment to the single-name credit default swap ("CDS") roll frequency. ISDA recommended making "single-name CDS transactions roll to a new 'on-the-run' contract on a semiannual, rather than quarterly, basis" and consequently, "further align single-name CDS contracts with CDS index trades." According to ISDA, scheduling the roll to occur biannually in March and September rather than quarterly will (i) "improve liquidity around the new semiannual roll dates"; (ii) "increase clearing of eligible single-name CDS transactions and encourage further buy-side

The United States Government Accountability Office ("GAO") issued a follow-up report to a study conducted in June in response to recent data breaches at federal agencies. The report offered recommendations to improve government-wide cybersecurity initiatives. In the report, GAO identified a number of challenges faced by federal agencies regarding threats to cybersecurity which include: designing and implementing a risk-based cybersecurity program; enhancing the oversight of contractors who provide IT services; improving security-incident-response activities; responding to breaches of personal

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing titled "Energy and the Rural Economy: the Economic Impact of Exporting Crude Oil." The following witnesses testified: The Honorable David J. Porter, Chairman, Texas Railroad Commission (written testimony); Mr. Harold Hamm, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Continental Energy (written testimony); Mr. Terrence A. Duffy, Executive Chairman and President, CME Group (written testimony); Ms. Kari Bjerke Cutting, Vice President, North Dakota Petroleum Council (written testimony); Mr. Jamie Webster, Senior Director, IHS (written

The SEC issued an Investor Bulletin to inform investors about recent amendments to Regulation A. The Investor Bulletin outlined the two different tiers of investment offerings and specified certain limitations for investors when deciding to invest in offerings that are governed by Regulation A. See: SEC Investor Bulletin: Regulation A. Related news: SEC Updates Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations Regarding Regulation A (June 24, 2015); SEC's Regulation A+ Amendments Published in Federal Register (April 20, 2015); Washington State Securities Division Issues Preproposal Statement of