The MSRB filed with the SEC a proposed rule change to establish supervisory and compliance obligations for municipal advisors. The MSRB proposed new rule G-44 to establish the supervisory and compliance obligations of municipal advisors, new amendments to Rule G-8 ("Books and Records to Be Made by Brokers, Dealers and Municipal Securities Dealers") and new amendments to Rule G-9 ("Preservation of Records"). The proposed new Rule G-44 draws on aspects of existing supervision and compliance framework from other programs and consists of a new supervisory system complemented by the designation of

The FDIC proposed revisions relating to ratios and ratio thresholds for capital evaluations, the assessment base calculation for custodial banks, and the calculation of counterparty exposures for highly complex institutions. The rule changes are intended to accommodate recent changes to federal banking agencies' capital rules. Specifically, the proposed rules would: revise the ratios and ratio thresholds for capital evaluations used in the FDIC risk-based deposit insurance assessment system to conform to the prompt corrective action capital ratios and ratio thresholds adopted by the FDIC

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System released a report titled The 2013 Federal Reserve Payments Study, which provides new information on the domestic payments landscape. Specifically, the study investigated the intensity of credit card use by consumers and businesses, information on third-party payments fraud, new estimates of over-the-counter cash withdrawals and deposits at bank branches and wire transfers made by businesses and consumers, and emerging and alternative payments likely to replace traditional payments such as cash and checks. Findings of the study include

In its "Drums Along the Potomac," series, Energy Metro Desk discusses comments by Commissioner O'Malia about keeping markets efficient. Commissioner O'Malia, who is departing the CFTC, recently announced that he will become the CEO and Director of ISDA. In the article, Energy Metro Desk asked Commissioner O'Malia if the CFTC will take a position of supporting growth or hindering it. Commissioner O'Malia responded by saying that poorly crafted policy on issues from position limits to swaps and the cross-border framework can hinder market growth. He explained that the CFTC must ensure that end

The SEC approved the new FINRA Rule 2081 prohibiting firms and registered representatives from conditioning settlement of a customer dispute on – or otherwise compensating a customer for – the customer's agreement to consent to, or to not oppose, the firm's or representative's request to expunge such information from the Central Registration Depository ("CRD") system. According to FINRA Chair Richard Ketchum, the new rule will protect "the integrity of the CRD system and disclosure of material information to investors." The effective date of the rule will be published in a FINRA Regulatory