The CFTC issued a no-action letter providing relief from certain recordkeeping requirements under CFTC Rule 1.35(a). The letter expands and extends the relief that was provided previously in CFTC letter 14-60 by means of the following: Exempting CFTC-registered commodity trading advisors ("CTAs") that are members of SEFs or designated contract markets from the requirement to record oral communications under Rule 1.35(a). Thus, CTAs will be exempt from recording oral communications leading to the execution of a swap transaction, as previously provided in CFTC Letter 14-60, as well as oral

The CFTC announced that Gary Barnett, Director of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO"), will depart from the DSIO in January to take a senior position at the SEC. CFTC Chair Tim Massad announced that Tom Smith, who is currently the Deputy Director of DSIO's Capital, Margin and Segregation Branch, will become Interim Director for DSIO upon Mr. Barnett's departure. See: CFTC Press Release.

SIFMA announced that a survey found that the majority of investors opposed FINRA's Comprehensive Automated Risk Data System ("CARDS") proposal. The survey was commissioned by SIFMA and conducted online in November by Harris Poll. Among the 1,103 U.S. investors surveyed, Harris Poll found that over 69 percent opposed CARDS initially after reading a description of the proposal. Additionally, the level of opposition increased to 80 percent after investors read about the range of concerns that were raised regarding the CARDS proposal. Similarly, over 70 percent of respondents agreed that "the

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to provide information about miscellaneous fees charged by certain brokers. The SEC explained that, in general, fees from broker-dealers fall into two categories: (i) commissions or markups associated with the trade and (ii) miscellaneous fees for other expenses. The miscellaneous fees, according to the SEC, help to "reimburse the broker for expenses incurred in performing the transaction or a service for you." The SEC noted that the fees may be labeled in a variety of ways, including as postage and handling charges

The NFA issued two ballots regarding its annual Board of Directors election for representatives in the CPO/CTA and IB categories. In the CPO/CTA category, the candidates include: Brendan R. Kalb, Managing Director and General Counsel, AQR Capital Management, LLC; John L. Roe, President, Roe Capital Management, Inc.; George R. Berbeco, President, The Devon Group, Inc.; Bernard H. Denis, III, Director, Head of Compliance (U.S.), Winton Capital Management, Ltd.; and James L. Koutoulas, Chief Executive Officer, Typhon Capital Management LLC. In the IB category, candidates include: Michael T. Burke