The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued no-action relief to certain introducing brokers ("IBs") with respect to net capital and financial reporting requirements under CFTC Rule 1.10 ("Financial Reports of Futures Commission Merchants and Introducing Brokers") and Rule 1.17 ("Minimum Financial Requirements for Futures Commission Merchants and Introducing Brokers"). The conditioned relief permits foreign-domiciled IBs to file audited and unaudited form 1-FR-IBs, as applicable, using local accounting principles in effect where the IB is domiciled in lieu of U.S

The CFTC announced it has issued separate Orders of Registration to two foreign boards of trade ("FBOTs"): Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad and the Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading Limited. Under the Order, the FBOTs are permitted to provide their identified members or other participants located in the United States with direct access to its electronic order entry and trade matching system to trade various futures and options contracts. The CFTC issued the Orders in accordance with Part 48 ("Registration of Foreign Boards of Trade") of its rules, which provides that such an Order may be

In the keynote address before the Monetary Authority of Singapore, CFTC Chair Massad continued to advocate for cross-border harmonization. Chair Massad reiterated his belief that the G-20's agreements to reform the swaps market can only go so far, explaining that it is incumbent upon regulators to develop rules that implement the G-20's commitments. He also stated that the best way to continue to grow domestic and international financial markets is to create a sound regulatory framework, which must "bring transparency, integrity, and oversight, but, at the same time, provide predictability to

The SEC announced charges against two data analysts for engaging in insider trading on the basis of material and nonpublic information about the sales of predominantly consumer retail corporations. The data analysts were employed by a large credit card issuer during the time in which they engaged in the illegal trading. The SEC alleged that the employees were tasked with investigating fraudulent credit card activity. According to the SEC, the employees searched their employer's nonpublic database for information that had no relation to their employment duties. This allowed them to view and

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") issued a new booklet titled "Government Securities Act." The booklet is part of the Comptroller's Handbook. The new booklet, which is also part of the Securities Compliance series, consolidates certain guidance from the "Securities Activities" booklet from the Comptroller's Handbook for Compliance and from the "Investment Securities" booklet from the Comptroller's Handbook. The booklet summarizes the Government Securities Act ("GSA") and provides guidance to OCC examiners for evaluating compliance with GSA regulations, including the