On June 21, 2014, Canada imposed sanctions on 11 individuals and one entity in connection with the ongoing unrest in Ukraine. (Canada's announcements are available here and here.) Each of the individuals and the entity, Feodosia, were previously designated for sanctions by the European Union on May 13, 2014. (Feodosia reportedly is a Crimean subsidiary of Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company, and is now in the possession of the territory's Russian administration.) A full list of individuals and entities sanctioned in connection with Ukraine is available here. The designations

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "Agencies") jointly issued an Addendum to the "Interagency Policy Statement on Income Tax Allocation in a Holding Company". The Addendum was issued to ensure that insured depository institutions ("IDIs") in a consolidated group maintain an appropriate relationship regarding the payment of taxes and treatment of tax refunds. The Addendum instructs IDIs and their holding companies to review and revise their tax allocation agreements and ensure that the agreements expressly acknowledge

The CFTC announced the appointment of Gretchen Lowe as Principal Deputy Director and Chief Counsel in the CFTC Division of Enforcement (the "Division"). Ms. Lowe was Acting Director of the Division until the recent appointment of Aitan Goelman as Director. Prior to her appointment as Acting Director, Ms. Lowe was the Chief Counsel of the Division. See: CFTC Press Release.

The SEC charged a private equity firm with violating "pay-to-play" rules by continuing to receive advisory fees from the city and state pension funds following campaign contributions made by an associate to gubernatorial and mayoral campaigns. This is the first time the SEC has charged a private equity firm with violating pay-to-play rules. The pay-to-play rules prohibit investment advisers from providing compensatory advisory services for two years following a campaign contribution by the firm or certain associates to political candidates or officials in positions to influence the selection

SEC Chair Mary Jo White delivered a speech at the Economic Club of New York, discussing the changing nature of intermediation and the importance of considering competition and technology in addressing market structure issues. Chair White explained that securities markets operate within a structure of rules which is based not only on regulation, but also on the complex interaction of regulation with competition and technology. Considering this "dynamic reality," Chair White stated that the SEC should not be chasing regulatory solutions that "fix" market structure once and for all, since the