The CFTC exemption issued to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission ("HKSFC") was published in the Federal Register. The exemption permits licensed corporations to solicit and accept orders and funds directly from U.S. customers for trading on any exchange that is subject to HKSFC's oversight without having to register with the CFTC as future commission merchants. The exemption became effective on March 25, 2015. See: 80 FR 15680. Related news: CFTC Issues Exemption to HKSFC Permitting U.S. Customers to Deal Directly with Hong Kong FCMs (March 20, 2015).

CFTC Commissioner Sharon Y. Bowen spoke at the 17th Annual OpRisk North America conference. Her remarks concerned operational risks in the market and what stakeholders can do to address those risks. She also addressed the risk management policy requirements of CFTC Rule 23.600. Commissioner Bowen identified cybersecurity as an operational risk that her audience knew "only too well." She explained that, since trading has become electronic, financial firms now store massive amounts of data, which makes them targets for hackers. She stated that two primary types of actors are involved in

A correction to the comment period deadline for the CFTC's Position Limits for Derivatives and Aggregation of Position proposals was published in the Federal Register. The correction amends the closing date of the reopened comment period for the proposed rulemakings. In the original proposal, which was published on February 25, 2015, the closing date was scheduled to fall on a non-business day. The comment period will now close on March 30, 2015. See: 80 FR 15699. Related news: CFTC Reopens Comment Periods on Position Limits for Derivatives and the Aggregation of Positions (Fed. Reg.)(February

The SEC provided no-action relief to 16th Amendment Advisors LLC ("the Company") regarding their independent verification and account statement, pursuant to the Advisers Act Section 206(4) and Rule 206(4)-2, also known as the "Custody Rule." The SEC stated that it will not recommend enforcement action against the Company as a result of the Company's specific representations 1) that individuals have plenary access to information (either statutory, contractual or some combination of the two) concerning the management of the Company; 2) that the Funds and each of the Fund's general partners are

SEC Chair White was the sole witness at the House Financial Services Committee hearing titled "Examining the SEC's Agenda, Operations, and FY 2016 Budget Request." Her remarks addressed completed SEC initiatives, current SEC priorities and future SEC regulatory actions. Chair White outlined the SEC's regulatory accomplishments and highlighted the work of each of the SEC's divisions and offices, and noted the ways in which the SEC has made progress in implementing the Dodd-Frank and JOBS Acts. Notably, Chair White stated that the SEC's review of equity market structure continued to progress