The CFTC Division of Market Oversight issued a no-action letter to extend further its previous relief to swap dealers ("SDs") and major swap participants ("MSPs") from the obligation to report valuation data for cleared swaps. The no-action letter provides that the CFTC will not take action against an SD or MSP for failure to comply with the requirements of CFTC Rule 45.4(b)(2)(ii) to report valuation data. The relief applies to all SDs and MSPs that are reporting counterparties under Rule 45.8, for the purposes of Rule 45.4(b)(2)(ii), and all cleared swaps for which the SD or MSP has an

FINRA issued a regulatory notice regarding the SEC approval of new supplementary material to FINRA Rule 5210 ("Publication of Transactions and Quotations"). The new supplementary material addresses transactions in a security, resulting from the unintentional interaction of orders originating from the same firm, that involve no change to the beneficial ownership of the security. Effective August 25, 2014, firms must have policies and procedures in place that are "reasonably designed" to prevent, and to review trading activity for, a pattern or practice of self-trades resulting from orders

BNP Paribas ("BNPP"), France's largest bank (and the world's fourth largest bank), pled guilty in New York State court to one count of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, in violation of New York Penal Law § 175.10, and Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, in violation of New York Penal Law § 105.05(1), in connection with its role in concealing prohibited transactions involving entities in three sanctioned countries: Sudan, Iran and Cuba. BNPP also agreed to plead guilty in federal court to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. §

FINRA issued a regulatory notice regarding the SEC approval of amendments to the FINRA Customer and Industry Codes of Arbitration Procedure. The amendments provide that any document filed with FINRA that contains an individual's Social Security number, taxpayer identification number or financial account number must be redacted to include only the last four digits of these numbers. According to the regulatory notice, the amendments are effective on July 28, 2014 for all documents filed with FINRA on or after the effective date. The text of the amendments is provided in the regulatory notice

The SEC announced that two new judges and three new attorneys will join the Office of Administrative Law Judges. The additions will nearly double the size of the office. The recent hires include: James E. Grimes, Administrative Law Judge; Darien S. Capron, law clerk; William Weihao Miller, law clerk; and Jessica Neiterman, law clerk. Another Administrative Law Judge is expected to join the office in August. See: SEC Press Release.