The Bank for International Settlements ("BIS") issued its annual report for the financial year ending on March 21, 2015. In the report, the BIS stated that interest rates have been low for the longest time in history. According to the BIS, those rates fueled costly financial booms instead of sparking sustainable and balanced global expansion. The BIS maintained that monetary policy continued to be "exceptionally accommodative," with many regulators delaying tightening regulation. It noted that central bank balance sheets remained at unprecedented high levels. The BIS states that the

SIFMA sent a letter to Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) expressing "strong support" for the Robert Matava Elder Abuse Victims Act of 2015 (the "Act"). Versions of the Act have been proposed, but not adopted, in prior Congressional sessions. SIFMA stated that the Act will better protect elder Americans from abuse and financial exploitation. Specifically, SIFMA commended the Act's requirement that the Attorney General and the Department of Health and Human Services collect statistical data from federal and state law enforcement agencies involving elder abuse

In Madden v. Midland Funding LLC, No. 14-2131-cv, ECF No. 75 (2d Cir. May 22, 2015) ("slip op."), pet. for reh'g filed, ECF No. 96-1 (2d Cir. June 19, 2015), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the application of state usury laws to third-party assignees is not preempted by the National Bank Act. Instead, such assignees remain subject to state usury limits. Prior to Madden, market participants assumed that a fully funded loan that was valid and enforceable when made would remain valid and enforceable (with respect to the rate of interest accruing) regardless of

The SEC's revisions to the EDGAR Filer Manual and related rules were published in the Federal Register. The revisions reflect updates to the EDGAR system. The revisions add new submission form types N-CR and N-CR/A for the Current Report of Money Market Fund Material Events. Additionally, they update submission form types ABS-15G and ABS-15G/A for asset-backed securities reporting based on Rule 15Ga-2. Although the EDGAR system is scheduled to be upgraded to support this new functionality on June 15, 2015, the effective date of the revisions is June 29, 2015. See: 80 FR 36913.

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill titled "The Offshore Reinsurance Tax Fairness Act" (the "Bill"). The Bill is intended to address the concern that hedge funds (and their investors) are bypassing the passive foreign investment company ("PFIC") tax regime by holding investments through offshore reinsurance companies. Generally, the PFIC rules prevent a U.S. investor in a PFIC from deferring tax on its passive income derived from its investment in that PFIC. Under an exception, however, income derived from the active conduct of an insurance business by a foreign corporation that is