FINRA fined JP Morgan Securities for overly concentrated short positions in U.S. Treasuries made by one of its brokers for two clients. See: FINRA Dispute Resolution; BrokerCheck Report.

A new academic study, " High-Frequency Trading and Extreme Price Movements" (the "Study"), argues that high-frequency traders ("HTFs") are net liquidity providers during extreme price movements and consequently perform a stabilizing function for markets. The Study examines data covering trading activity on NASDAQ from 2008 and 2009. MoreWhile "some market observers claim that HFTs only supply liquidity in normal times and withdraw liquidity in times of stress," the Study's observations were the opposite: "normally, HFTs as a group demand more liquidity than they supply . . . and during price

In the latest installment of the Energy Metro Desk series "Drums along the Potomac," editor-in-chief John Sodergreen discussed swap execution facilities ("SEFs") and general swaps policy, citing comments from CFTC Chair Tim Massad and former CFTC Commissioner and now ISDA CEO Scott O'Malia. According to Sodergreen, the recent SEFCON V conference on SEF policy made it seem as though "SEFs, as a class, had largely failed." The article cites comments from CFTC Chair Massad at the conference, who stated that much work needs to be done regarding SEFs. In his speech, Chair Massad outlined three

The Office of Financial Research ("OFR") issued its 2014 annual report which assesses threats to U.S. financial stability, outlines OFR research supporting the assessment and evaluates policy initiatives for promoting financial stability. According to the report, the OFR and financial regulators made "significant progress" since the last annual report in assessing the buildup of vulnerabilities in the financial system, including improvements in the scope of financial data and the implementation of new policy tools. The report notes the following threats : "excessive risk-taking" during the

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") issued a bulletin informing of forthcoming fees and assessments to be charged by the OCC for calendar year 2015. The bulletin – which was addressed to all national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks – becomes effective January 1, 2015. See: OCC Bulletin.