SIFMA submitted a letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the SEC, and the CFTC (the "Agencies"), informing the Agencies of the intention of certain financial institutions that are members of SIFMA to utilize joint ventures, as defined in Section __.10(c)(3) of the Volcker Rule, to share the income, gain, and loss on municipal bonds or other tax-exempt securities, commonly referred to as "tender option bond" programs. According to the letter, participants in joint ventures of this kind may include a banking entity or

The IRS issued Notice 2014-39 clarifying that taxpayers that receive a cash grant in lieu of either a Code Section 45 production tax credit or a Code Section 48 investment tax credit may not claim one of the credits for any portion of the basis of the property, even when the cash grant was reduced due to sequestration. Under the Code, production tax credits based on the amount of energy produced over a 10-year period are available for certain renewable energy generation, such as wind power. Other renewable energy property, such as solar generating equipment, is eligible for an investment tax

The House Financial Services Committee met in open session to vote on legislation considered in a markup of twelve bills dealing with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") and other bills that would amend Securities Act requirements. The bills voted on included: H.R. 4697, the "Small-Cap Access to Capital Act," was agreed to (32-27); H.R. 2629, the "Fostering Innovation Act of 2013," was agreed to (31-28); H.R. 3389, the "CFPB Slush Fund Elimination Act of 2013," was agreed to, as amended (31-27); H.R. 4604, the "CFPB Data Collection Security Act," was agreed to, as amended (32-27)

The U.S. Treasury Department ("Treasury") issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit public comment on proposed amendments to Treasury's rules for reporting large positions in certain Treasury securities. According to Treasury, the proposed amendments are designed to improve the information available to Treasury and simplify the reporting process for many entities subject to the large position reporting rules. Specifically, the proposed amendments Treasury's Large Position Report include: (i) revising the reporting format; (ii) requiring gross reporting; (iii) requiring reporting of

SIFMA and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe ("AFME") issued a joint statement applauding EU Commissioner Michel Barnier regarding his remarks relating to developments in U.S.-EU financial services and a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership ("TTIP"). SIFMA and AFME emphasized the importance of coordination between the two jurisdictions as a key component of TTIP in order to "promote consistent high-quality regulatory standards in global markets and economies that are closely intertwined." Related news: U.S. and European Financial Services Trade Associations Issue Joint