The IRS issued a General Legal Advice Memorandum ("GLAM"). The memorandum discusses the applicability of certain safe harbor rules in Rev. Proc. 2007-65 to transactions involving the Section 45 wind energy production tax credit, and to transactions involving the Section 48 solar tax credit. Mann Comment: The GLAM makes the obvious point that the wind safe harbor rules do not necessarily apply to solar transactions and then proceeds to apply them. The transaction being discussed did not meet the safe harbor standards, the GLAM concludes. However, the transaction seems to have been structured

The House Financial Services Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing as part of an ongoing series that examines the threat posed by cyberattacks to the U.S. economy and financial services sector. According to witnesses at the hearing, an increasing number of prominent nation-states, criminal organizations, terrorist groups and "hacktivists" are capable of carrying out cyberattacks against the United States. Additionally, witnesses asserted that the U.S. financial sector is at increased risk of cyberattack relative to other sectors. C lick here to view a summary of

The MSRB added a new feature to its Electronic Municipal Market Access ("EMMA") Web site that allows investors and others to access all available disclosure information for a municipal security in cases in which new identification ("CUSIP") numbers are assigned to portions of the bond after issuance. The EMMA Web site now links a municipal bond to any new CUSIPs assigned to portions of that bond. This new feature is intended to be helpful for investors in newly created securities, as well as to the issuer of the original security, who may want to refer to the official statement or other

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") announced that it is seeking comments on a proposed rule that would revise the way small banks are assessed for deposit insurance. The proposed rule would update the data and methods that the FDIC uses to determine risk-based assessments for these institutions. See: Text of Proposed Rulemaking.

The CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri entered a Consent Order (the "Order") against a former risk management consultant. The Order imposes a civil monetary penalty for fraud and unauthorized trading in swaps and permanently bans the individual from registering with the CFTC. The Order resolves a CFTC enforcement action filed in September 2014, which found that the individual, who was employed as a risk management consultant at a futures commission merchant ("FCM"), engaged in fraud and unauthorized swaps trading when he knowingly executed 30