The CFTC announced that Judge Kimba M. Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a Consent Order against a former Citigroup employee in the group's energy division. According to the Order, the former director cheated the firm by (i) inflating and mismarking the value of his position in New York Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Ethanol Futures contracts in the firm's proprietary account, (ii) misrepresenting his profits and losses and (iii) knowingly offsetting and masking the losses in his other futures positions. S ee: Final Judgment and Consent Order.

CME Group announced that CME Clearing Europe received authorization as a Central Counterparty Clearing House ("CCP") under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation ("EMIR"). The authorization covers all OTC derivatives and futures products currently cleared by CME Clearing Europe.

According to CFTC Chair Timothy Massad, the CFTC is reviewing information it received about financial firms cutting ties with foreign affiliates, or "de-guaranteeing," in order to avoid Dodd-Frank derivatives regulations. Chair Massad stated that "[d]isclosures have been made, and we'll see what we get from that and decide what actions to take." He pointed to the 2008 bailout of American International Group as evidence of why "de-guaranteeing" must be scrutinized. Lofchie Comment : Regulators should understand that it is perfectly appropriate for market participants to adjust their behavior in

On July 31, 2014, the SEC issued an order extending exemptive relief from the requirements of Rule 612 of Regulation NMS (the "Sub-Penny Rule") to New York Stock Exchange LLC ("NYSE") and NYSE MKT LLC ("NYSE MKT" and together with the NYSE, the "Exchanges"), in connection with the Exchanges' Retail Liquidity Programs (the "Programs"). The exemptive relief extends to March 15, 2014, which coincides with the Exchanges' immediately effective filings that extended the Programs through the same date. The Exchanges cited recent increased participation in the Programs and the need for additional time

At the 2014 Municipal Finance Conference, Commissioner Michael Piwowar discussed several key issues regarding the municipal finance industry. Commissioner Piwowar stated that there are some potential reforms in the existing municipal market regime that should be undertaken, explaining that the reforms are not only achievable, but are gaining support. The first area Commissioner Piwowar discussed was riskless principal transactions, noting that under the current regulatory environment these transactions allow the dealer to hide its compensation from a customer "merely by altering the method of