FINRA announced that it began publicly disseminating Securities Act Rule 144A ("Private Resales of Securities to Institutions") transaction data in corporate debt securities in order to "bring transparency to a market that had previously operated in the dark." Through the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, FINRA will disseminate 144A transactions subject to the same dissemination caps that are currently in effect for non-144A transactions. FINRA stated that the same dissemination cap for investment-grade corporate bonds, or $5 million, applies to both 144A and non-144A corporate bond

FINRA proposed a rule change to delete the FINRA Rule 6500 Series, which governs the operation of the OTC Bulletin Board ("OTCBB") service, and cease operation of the OTCBB. FINRA would continue to centralize last-sale transaction reporting through the FINRA OTC Reporting Facility ("ORF") and, therefore, continue to operate a system that collects and disseminates transaction information on, and provides the widespread dissemination of reliable and accurate last-sale information with respect to, OTC equity securities, including penny stocks. In place of operating the OTCBB, FINRA would instead

EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Financial Services Michel Barnier said he intends to propose that the European Commission ("EC") adopt "equivalence" decisions that will allow central counterparty clearing houses ("CCPs") from five countries outside the European Union to clear EU derivatives trades. The allowed countries will be Japan, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and India. Regarding the absence of the United States from the list, Commissioner Barnier noted that, if the CFTC gives effective equivalence to third-country CCPs, he is confident that the list will include the United

The Government of the British Virgin Islands and the United States signed a FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA"). The IGA is a Model 1B (nonreciprocal) agreement, pursuant to which financial institutions and investment entities in the British Virgin Islands ("BVI") will provide information on their direct and indirect U.S. account holders to the BVI, which in turn will provide that information to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The IGA was signed at the Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C. by Premier of the BVI, the Honorable Dr. D. Orlando Smith, OBE, and by Assistant Secretary

The SEC approved proposed rule amendments to FINRA Rules 2210 ("Communications with the Public") and 2214 ("Requirements for the Use of Investment Analysis Tools"). The amendments to Rule 2210 would: (i) exclude from the filing requirements research reports concerning only securities listed on a national securities exchange, other than research reports which must be filed pursuant to Investment Company Act Section 24(b) ("Registration of securities under Securities Act of 1933"), and (ii) clarify that free writing prospectuses that are exempt from filing with the SEC are not subject to the