The CFTC announced that it will hold a roundtable on June 19, 2014, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., to discuss position limits for physical commodity derivatives. The roundtable will focus on the hedges of a physical commodity, as well as spot-month limits in physical-delivery and cash-settled contracts. The roundtable will include a discussion on the aggregation of positions based on ownership interests of greater than 50 percent of an owned entity and aggregation based on substantially identical trading strategies. See: Press Release. Related news : CFTC Announces Three Actions to Clean up

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued a semiannual update of its rulemaking agenda. Included in the CFPB agenda are a number of rulemakings mandated by Dodd-Frank, such as potential amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, as well as support for the implementation process of recent rulemaking to consolidate and streamline federal mortgage disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Additionally, the CFPB stated that it is continuing with rulemakings to implement a supervisory program for certain nonbank entities by

The SEC instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve a FINRA-proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 12104 and Rule 13104 to permit arbitrators to make referrals to FINRA during an arbitration case, and adopt new rules to address the assessment of hearing session fees, costs, and expenses if an arbitrator made a referral during a case that resulted in withdrawal of the entire panel. FINRA filed Amendment No. 1 in response to comments on the proposal on May 19, 2014. The SEC is requesting further comment on the amended proposal to help determine whether to approve or disapprove the

The situation in Ukraine is nearing another critical juncture in the aftermath of the presidential elections on May 25, 2014. As previously reported on the Cabinet, U.S. and European leaders continue to assess whether Russian meddling constitutes grounds for the imposition of a new round of sanctions, including sector-based measures that may target the Russian energy, minerals, and financial services industries, among others. Beyond Ukraine, a number of other sanctions-related developments occurred in the past week. On May 23, 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the

SIFMA submitted comments regarding the FINRA retrospective rule review of communications with the public, gifts, gratuities, and non-cash compensation, instituted in FINRA Regulatory Notices 14-14 and 14-15. SIFMA applauded FINRA conducting a review of its rules to determine if they were actually effective and if the cost and burdens of the rules outweighed the anticipated benefits of the rules. SIFMA encouraged FINRA to continue its retrospective rule review process for the entire FINRA rulebook. In creating new rules, SIFMA encouraged FINRA to consider a principles-based regulation rather