The CFTC issued a notice indicating that individuals may submit whistleblower award claims for an action against Parnon Energy Inc., Arcadia Petroleum Ltd., Arcadia Energy SA, Nicholas J. Wildgoose and James T. Dyer. The CFTC issues notices of covered action for each enforcement action in which a final judgment or order – by itself or together with prior judgments or orders in the same action issued after July 21, 2010 – results in monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million. Individuals who voluntarily provided the CFTC with original information that led to the successful enforcement of a covered

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued no-action relief from the provison in CFTC Rule 1.57(a)(1), which provides that a specific guaranteed introducing broker may open and carry each customer account solely with its guarantor futures commission merchant and on a fully disclosed basis. The no-action relief would allow the introducing broker to direct trades to a number of different FCMs, provided that one of the firms takes ultimate responsibility for any trades rejected by the other FCMs. See: CFTC Letter 14-133.

At an open meeting, the CFTC approved rule proposals regarding (i) the residual interest deadline and (ii) recordkeeping relating to commodity interest and related cash or forward transactions, as well as a proposed interpretation related to forward contracts with embedded volumetric optionality. The proposed rule on the Residual Interest Deadline in Rule 1.22 ("Use of Futures Customer Funds Restricted") was approved by a unanimous vote. The amendment would remove the December 31, 2018 termination date from the phased-in compliance schedule for futures commission merchants, and provide

SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr. spoke at the AICPA and SIFMA Financial Management Society Conference on the Securities Industry, discussing equity market structure, market data dissemination, and transparent disclosure. Mr. Bentsen explained that market structure has become increasingly complex and fragmented, opening the door to disparate treatment among market participants. To remedy this issue, SIFMA called on regulators to conduct a comprehensive review of equity market structure to ensure it is working in the best interest for all investors. To address fragmentation, Mr

FINRA issued a Regulatory Notice regarding the SEC's approval of amendments to FINRA Rule 9231 and Rule 9232 to establish an additional category of persons eligible to serve as panelists on a hearing panel or extended hearing panel in a disciplinary proceeding. The additional category includes persons currently serving, or having previously served, on a committee appointed or approved by the FINRA Board. The rule change also makes a conforming amendment to Rule 9232 to provide FINRA with a larger pool of individuals with experience and expertise who could serve as panelists. The amendments