U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) submitted a letter to the newest Commissioners of the CFTC reminding them of their commitments to reach out to the agriculture sector. Senator Cochran additionally recommended steps the new members should take to lessen concerns raised during their confirmation process about their lack of experience in agriculture. In the letter, which was addressed to new CFTC Chairman Timothy G. Massad, Commissioner Sharon Bowen, and Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo, Senator Cochran urged the new CFTC members to "make hearing and addressing the concerns of agricultural

SIFMA, CME Group, Inc., the North American Tax Committee of ISDA, and the Futures Industry Association (the "Associations") submitted comments to the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS requesting guidance on the application of existing rules treating swap upfront payments that constitute "significant" non-periodic payments, as loans for federal income tax purposes. According to the letter, in the context of cleared and many uncleared swaps, a party receiving an upfront payment is not entitled to retain the payment, but rather must remit the payment as variation margin back to the payor of

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ("FRB") invited comment on a proposal to modify the regulations for capital planning and stress testing. The proposed rule would shift the start date of the capital plan and stress test cycles from October 1 of a calendar year to January 1 of the following calendar year . A bank holding company with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more would be required to submit its capital plan and stress test results to the FRB by April 5, 2014, three months later than under current rulemakings. Additionally, a bank holding company with total

FINRA filed with the SEC proposed amendments to the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Customer Disputes and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for Industry Disputes to increase arbitration filing fees, member surcharges and process fees, and hearing session fees. FINRA filed the proposed rule change with the primary purpose of increasing arbitrator honoraria in order to recruit and retain a roster of "high quality arbitrators." The rules FINRA proposes to amend to increase the various associated fees involving arbitration include: Customer Code Rules 12214 ("Payment of Arbitrators"), 12800 (

In a speech before the Peterson Institute of International Economics, SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein discussed several key areas where the SEC must play a critical role in addressing systemic risks. Commissioner Stein acknowledged the seriousness of the fact that many substantive Dodd-Frank reforms have yet to be implemented, and that advancements on the systemic risk front have been generally mixed at best so far. However, she went on to point out what she saw as some successes: the FSOC is meeting regularly, the OFR is operational and has over 200 staffers monitoring and assessing threats to