The staff of the SEC's Division of Investment Management ("IM") issued guidance to remind mutual funds that are "series companies" that their compliance policies and procedures must be designed reasonably to prevent violations of the federal securities laws as they apply to each series; i.e., that each "series company" should be treated as a separate legal entity. In particular, a mutual fund should review its compliance policies and procedures for the appropriate identification of "affiliated persons" with respect to each series of the mutual fund for purposes of transactions that may be

The Swiss Federal Council approved legislation that will bring the FATCA Act into force on June 30, 2014, the day before FATCA becomes operative in the United States. The FATCA Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") between Switzerland and the United States was approved by the Swiss Parliament in September 2013 and came into force on June 2, 2014, upon an exchange of notes between the United States and Switzerland. Parliament also approved legislation to implement FATCA in September 2013. Switzerland's IGA with the United States is a Model 2 agreement, which means Swiss financial institutions

In its Chief Counsel Advice (CCA 201423019), the IRS concluded that a holding company with ownership of the majority interest in a partnership that originated and purchased mortgage loans was not a dealer even though the partnership itself was a dealer under Section 475. According to the IRS, although the ordinary character of the marked securities held by the partnership flowed through to the holding company, the dealer activity of the partnership was not attributable to, and did not flow through to, the holding company. Further, modifications of mortgage loans that were held by trusts as sub

F ederal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo delivered a speech at the Association of American Law Schools' Midyear Meeting, in which he discussed how finance and financial regulation affect corporate governance and why special measures are needed as part of an effective prudential regulatory system. Stressing the need for further collaboration between corporate and financial law scholarship, Governor Tarullo emphasized the centrality of risk in his description of the relationship between financial regulation and corporate governance. In his remarks, Governor Tarullo paid particular attention

After being confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 3, Sharon Bowen was officially sworn in on June 9 to serve as a Commissioner of the CFTC. Ms. Bowen joins the CFTC from the New York office of Latham Watkins LLP, where she had been a partner since 1991. Ms. Bowen also was Vice Chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation ("SIPC") and became its Acting Chair in 2012. See : CFTC Press Release.