SIFMA announced the finalization of its model documents and related guidance to help broker-dealers and other financial institutions comply with the new regulatory requirements created by the SEC Municipal Advisor Rule. The Municipal Advisor Rule, which is effective on July 1, 2014, imposes a registration regime upon municipal advisors and a fiduciary duty upon municipal advisors that give advice to municipal entities. According to SIFMA, the model disclosures are designed to be a starting point to assist firms coming into compliance with the rule. SIFMA also announced that it will host a

The SEC approval of a FINRA-proposed rule to amend FINRA Rule 5210 ("Publication of Transactions and Quotations") to limit self-trading was published in the Federal Register. The rule change, among other things, would add Supplementary Material .02 to FINRA Rule 5210 to address members' obligations with respect to certain securities transactions that result from the unintentional interaction of orders originating from the same firm, known as "self-trades," that involve no change in the beneficial ownership of the security. Furthermore, the rule amendments establish a distinction between two

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Alert intended to make investors aware of the potential risks of investments involving Bitcoin and other forms of virtual currency. The Investor Alert describes Bitcoin and its properties, explaining that investments involving Bitcoin may lead to a heightened risk of fraud. The Investor Alert also provides additional resources to further explore the topic, including links to past SEC and FINRA Investor Alerts on digital currency, IRS Virtual Currency Guidance , and recent lawsuits and cases involving virtual currency. See

CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O'Malia delivered the keynote address at the Tabb Forum event, focusing on recent market structure changes. Commissioner O'Malia focused his remarks on three key topics, high-frequency trading/algorithmic trading, cross-border issues, and the Path Forward Guidance, that have been impacted by the transformation of market structure, and the ways in which the CFTC can fix the negative impacts of its rules. Commissioner O'Malia noted that Michael Lewis' recent book Flash Boys stirred up debate about HFT and market structure. Commissioner O'Malia disagreed with Mr. Lewis'

FINRA issued a regulatory notice to inform firms that beginning October 1, 2014, firms must select product and problem codes when (i) reporting information regarding written customer complaints alleging theft or misappropriation of funds or securities, or forgery, (ii) reporting quarterly statistical and summary information regarding written customer complaints, and (iii) completing the online form to file copies of required documents. According to the regulatory notice, the first quarterly report using the revised and new codes is due by January 15, 2015, which is the reporting deadline for