The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") announced a further extension of time for certain individuals filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts ("FBAR"). On December 20, 2013, FinCEN extended the filing date for Form 114 – FBAR (formerly Form TD-F 90-22.1) for certain individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, one or more foreign financial accounts until June 30, 2015. In response to this extension, FinCEN received questions that required additional consideration as to possible regulatory changes. For that reason, FinCEN extended the

The U.S. Congress is scheduled to consider a proposal to allow banks to keep swaps trading units. The congressional vote on the proposal, which is included in the government funding bill ( H.R. 83), will take place soon. Regarding the bill, FDIC Vice Chair Hoenig stated that "[i]t is illogical to repeal the 716 push out requirement," and explained that most derivatives would not even be pushed out of the bank because "interest rate swaps, foreign exchange and cleared credit derivatives can remain within the bank." According to Vice Chair Hoenig, the main items that must be pushed out under

The CFTC issued no-action relief from the commodity pool operator ("CPO") financial statement requirements of CFTC Rule 4.22 and the disclosure requirements of Rule 4.24(s) with respect to an insurance-linked securitization vehicle ("ILS Vehicle"). The relief was granted on the condition that the CPO provides specified disclosures and monthly statements that include information concerning the assets of the ILS Vehicle and the terms of, and payments under, the related swap. See: CFTC Letter 14-145.

The CFTC issued a no-action letter providing relief from commodity pool operator ("CPO") registration to an entity acting as a "directed trustee" of a state-regulated trust. According to the letter, the "directed trustee" generally may act only on a "directed" basis, as instructed by the trust's investment manager. The directed trustee's discretionary powers are limited to matters relating to the custody of the trust's assets, the payment of certain fees, expenses and reimbursements out of the trust assets, and the engagement of certain agents and service providers on behalf of the trust. The

CFTC Chair Timothy G. Massad expressed concern over Congressional funding for the agency in testimony before the Senate Committee on Agriculture. Chair Massad was the only witness at the hearing titled: "The Commodity Futures Trading Commission: Effective Enforcement and the Future of Derivatives Regulation." Chair Massad explained that, in order to protect market participants from fraud and manipulation by means of adequate market surveillance, the CFTC would need far more resources than are offered currently in the omnibus spending package. The target budget, Chair Massad explained, is that