FINRA announced the formation of a 13-member Arbitration Task Force to consider possible changes to its arbitration forum with the goal of improving transparency, impartiality and efficiency. The task force is composed of seven public members and six industry members. At the conclusion of its review next year, the task force will make recommendations to the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee, FINRA's Standing Board Advisory Committee. See: FINRA Press Release.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "Agencies") finalized a technical correction to the definition of "eligible guarantee" in the Agencies' risk-based capital rules. The final rule removes the requirement that an eligible guarantee be made by an eligible guarantor for purposes of calculating the risk-weighted assets of an exposure under the advanced approaches risk-based capital rule as incorporated into Subpart E of the 2013 Capital Rule. The change to the definition of "eligible guarantee" applies to all banks

In the closely watched cross-border guidance case, SIFMA v. CFTC, the CFTC filed a motion to submit the supplemental declaration of CFTC Assistant General Counsel Martin B. White (the "declaration") and two additional documents that, in the words of the CFTC, contradict "the positions SIFMA and other Plaintiffs have taken on key legal points in this case." Specifically, the two exhibits filed include (i) a document titled "Note Regarding Non-U.S. Affiliate Participation in Swaps Market" ("SIFMA's Note"), and (ii) a copy of an article published by POLITICO Pro titled "Banks Outline Pushback on

In his remarks at the 2014 Delivering Alpha Conference, Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew called for legislation to enhance defenses against cybersecurity threats. According to Secretary Lew, the consequences of cyber attacks are more serious than ever, and financial institutions should be proactive to prevent damage. He stated that, despite their hesitancy to reveal information about security breaches, firms should consider disclosing cyber incidents and collaborate with government agencies and other firms in order to strengthen defenses against cyber attacks. Secretary Lew called for

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA"), SIFMA and ISDA sent separate comment letters to the European Supervisory Authorities ("ESAs") on their joint consultation paper, titled "Draft Regulatory Technical Standards on Risk-Mitigation Techniques for OTC-Derivative Contracts Not Cleared by a CCP" ("Consultation Paper"), regarding EMIR ("European Market Infrastructure Regulation"). The MFA's letter voiced support for the ESAs' efforts to reduce counterparty credit risk and mitigate the potential for systemic risk resulting from uncleared OTC derivative markets. The MFA emphasized the need to ensure