The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") issued a final rule to implement Dodd-Frank Section 622, which prohibits a financial company from acquiring, consolidating or merging with another company if the ratio of the resulting company's liabilities exceeds 10 percent of the aggregate consolidated liabilities of all the financial companies. The final rule, which is substantially similar to the proposal issued in May, adds an exemption to clarify that financial companies which have reached the 10 percent threshold may continue to engage in securitization activities. Under the

The United Stated District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a final judgment by consent against former hedge fund manager Rajarengan "Rengan" Rajaratnam. The court ordered Mr. Rajaratnam to pay a fine and enjoined him from future violations of federal securities laws. Additionally, Mr. Rajaratnam agreed to be barred from associating with any securities-related business, with the right to apply for reentry after five years. S ee: SEC Litigation Release. Related news: SEC Litigation Release Regarding "Rengan" Rajaratnam Insider Trading Case (March 25, 2013); SEC Charges

On November 3, 2014, the Bahamian government and the United States signed an Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") under FATCA. The Model 1 form of the IGA requires financial institutions and investment entities resident in the Bahamas to report certain information with respect to accounts and interests in such investment entities that are held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons. The United States and the Bahamas announced previously that they reached an "agreement in substance" that permitted Bahamian financial institutions to be treated as compliant with FATCA as of July 1, 2014, but the

The CFTC's notice of intent to renew the collection of certain information regarding financial resource requirements for derivatives clearing organizations was published in the Federal Register. Comments regarding this notice must be submitted by January 5, 2015. See: 79 FR 65643.

CFTC Chair Timothy Massad and Commissioner Sharon Bowen delivered remarks before the Futures Industry Association Expo where they discussed the CFTC's priorities. Chair Massad stated that, although the CFTC has written nearly all of the rules required by Dodd-Frank, some rules have yet to be completed, including those on margin for uncleared swaps, capital and position limits. He also said the CFTC staff will soon issue a letter extending the no-action relief provided previously in order to phase in the requirement to trade MAT package transactions on swap execution facilities ("SEFs")