The SEC's technical amendments were published in the Federal Register. The amendments update control numbers assigned to the information collection requirements of the SEC by the Office of Management and Budget. The amendments became effective as of February 9, 2015. See: 80 FR 6902.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") Governor Jerome Powell spoke out against "misguided" proposals to place limits on the Federal Reserve's (the "Fed's") ability to respond to financial crises. He delivered his remarks at the Catholic University of America. In particular, Governor Powell criticized three types of "misguided" proposals – namely, to: "audit the Fed" ( i.e., subject the Fed's conduct of monetary policy to congressional auditing); require the Fed to adopt and follow specific equations for setting monetary policy, and to face immediate congressional hearings

The SEC imposed sanctions against four China-based accounting firms that refused to turn over documents relating to investigations of potential fraud. According to the SEC, an administrative law judge issued an initial decision finding that the four firms "willfully refused to provide the SEC with workpapers and related documents in connection with their audit work for nine China-based companies that had securities registered in the U.S." The sanctioned firms are members of large international networks associated with the "Big Four" accounting firms and are registered with the Public Company

The SEC's technical corrections to the Asset-Backed Securities Disclosure and Registration Rules were published in the Federal Register. The amendments reinstate language that was inadvertently removed and make other technical corrections to rules that were published on September 24, 2014. See: 80 FR 6652.

Scholars from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University submitted a letter to FINRA regarding it's rule proposal to implement the Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System ("CARDS"). According to the letter, while FINRA claims that the collection of standardized data for CARDS will enhance investor protection, using the data to assess broker and investor activity and then providing report cards to firms "will likely result in FINRA staffers' judgments increasingly determining how money is invested." The letter further commented that FINRA's increased influence over how customer money is