The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing titled "FSOC Accountability: Nonbank Designations." Witnesses discussed the process whereby the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") designates non-bank financial institutions as systemically important financial institutions ("SIFIs"). American Council of Life Insurers ("ACLI") Vice President and General Counsel Gary Hughes (view written testimony here) argued that FSOC must develop a more transparent designation process. He outlined six procedural safeguards that he felt FSOC should adopt: giving

Representative Jim Himes (D-CT), along with co-sponsors Steve Womack (R-AR), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) introduced legislation titled the "Insider Trading Prohibition Act" (the "Bill"). The Bill strengthens the ban on insider trading by redefining the act and overturning U.S. v. Newman. The Bill would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") by adding a new Section 16A to include language that would, among other things, make it expressly "unlawful for any person, directly or indirectly, to purchase, sell, or enter into, or cause the purchase" of any

The House Committee on Agriculture continued its series of hearings on CFTC reauthorization. The latest hearing considered perspectives from a variety of market participants. The following witnesses testified: CME Group Executive Chair and President Terrence A. Duffy (written testimony); ICE Futures U.S. COO and President Benjamin Jackson (written testimony); NFA President and CEO Daniel J. Roth (written testimony); R.J. O'Brien Associates, LLC, Chair of the Board and CEO Gerald F. Corcoran (on behalf FIA) (written testimony); and Tulett Prebon CEO Shawn Bernardo (on behalf of the Wholesale

The SEC issued a no-action letter to LMP Real Estate Income Fund Inc. (the "Fund") affirming its decision not to take action against the Fund for omitting a shareholder proposal (the "Proposal") from its proxy materials at an annual meeting pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 14a-8(i)(7). The Proposal demanded that the Fund provide specific details on past and current investments made by the Fund manager. Rule 14a-8(i)(7) permits a company to exclude a shareholder proposal from its proxy materials if the proposal deals with a matter relating to the company's ordinary business operations. See: No

Office of Financial Research ("OFR") Director Richard Berner gave a speech at the Financial Regulation Summit. His remarks concerned the ways in which the development of standards can improve financial data and transparency. According to Director Berner, gaps in analysis, data and policy tools can lead to the inability to address weaknesses in the financial system. He explained that standards, such as the global legal entity identifier ("LEI"), are needed to produce high-quality data, and added that the OFR has asked regulators to require a broader use of the LEI in regulatory reporting, as