The SEC announced the members of a new Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee. The Committee will focus on the structure and operations of the U.S. equities markets. Stephen Luparello, Director of the Division of Trading and Markets, will be the designated federal officer on the committee. Other members' expertise, according to SEC Chair Mary Jo White, comes "from a diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints"; i.e., from different sectors of the financial services industry, academia and public interest groups. Among the issues that the committee is expected to discuss are the following: (i)

The NFA submitted comments to the CFTC on proposed amendments to CFTC Rule 1.35, which would exclude commodity trading advisors ("CTAs") that are members of designated contracts markets ("DCMs") or swap execution facilities ("SEFs") from the requirement to record and maintain oral communications. The NFA stated that it "fully supports" the proposed amendment that would codify the relief provided in CFTC Letter 14-147. However, the NFA questioned the revenue threshold of the CFTC's 2012 amendment to Rule 1.35 to exclude investment banks that generated $5 million or less in aggregate gross

The MSRB announced a webinar to review recently approved changes to MSRB Rule G-18, on best execution, which will require municipal securities dealers to seek the most favorable terms reasonably available for their retail customers' transactions. The new rule, which is effective on December 7, 2015, will establish standards for how dealers handle and execute customer orders for municipal securities. See: Registration for MSRB Webinar. Related news: SEC Approves MSRB's Best-Execution Rule (MSRB Regulatory Notice 2014-22) (December 8, 2014) MSRB-Proposed Rule Regarding Best-Execution for

MFA submitted a comment letter to the CFTC in response to the CFTC- proposed rulemaking, "Residual Interest Deadline for Futures Commission Merchants." MFA stated that it "strongly supports" both the proposed rules and the CFTC's determination to terminate the phase-in period for the residual interest deadline and establish the deadline time as 6:00 p.m., Eastern Time, permanently on the date of settlement. According to MFA, requiring futures commission merchants ("FCMs") to comply with a shorter timeframe would be "problematic." It would not allow sufficient time for FCMs to collect margin

The CFTC announced that CFTC Chair Massad will travel to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore in January to discuss cross-border swaps regulation. Massad is making the trip in order to meet with government officials and market participants to "further the dialogue" on common concerns and interests regarding the swaps market. Lofchie Comment: The CFTC might want to consider commissioning an independent polling firm to conduct a survey of how Asian businesses view U.S. financial regulation. It is likely that these businesses fear being caught up in the burdens and complexities of U.S