The SEC announced that Pamela C. Dyson was appointed SEC's Chief Information Officer ("CIO") in charge of overseeing the SEC's information technology functions. Ms. Dyson served as the SEC's acting CIO since October 2014. Se e: SEC Press Release.

The SEC announced the agenda and panelists for its February 19, 2015 roundtable on ways to improve the proxy voting process. The roundtable will be divided into two panels. The first panel will focus on (i) the state of contested director elections, (ii) whether changes should be made to the federal proxy rules to facilitate the use of universal proxy ballots by management and proxy contestants, and (iii) state law, logistical and disclosure issues presented by a possible universal proxy ballot process. The second panel will focus on strategies for increasing retail shareholder participation

The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing to review the futures, options and swaps markets overseen by the CFTC. CFTC Chair Timothy Massad was the sole witness. Chair Massad focused his testimony on the CFTC's key priorities for 2015 and on reviewing what it has accomplished since his time as Chair began. Chair Massad stated that the CFTC intends to make markets work for commercial end users and has undertaken actions to achieve this goal. The actions include, among other things: (i) proposing a rule on margin for uncleared swaps; (ii) amending its rules for transactions with

The North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") filed a comment letter to update the SEC on the implementation and progress of NASAA's Coordinated Review Program for Regulation A Offerings. According to the comment letter, the Coordinated Review Program, which "streamlines state registration of offerings" under the Securities Act, has been successfully implemented. NASAA stated that, in every instance, the program "effectively streamlines the state review process and promotes efficiency by providing centralized filing, unified comments, and a definitive timeline for review."

FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC to adopt NASD Rules 3170, 1150 and 1160 as new FINRA Rule 4517 ("Member Filing and Contact Information Requirements") without any substantive changes. FINRA also proposed to update references and cross-references within other FINRA rules accordingly. See: Text of Proposed Rule Change.