The CFTC announced that Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen and leaders of the Alberta Securities Commission ("ASC"), the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC"), the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC"), and the AutoritÉ des marchÉs financiers ("AMF") (collectively, "Canadian Authorities") entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") regarding cooperation and the exchange of information in the supervision and oversight of regulated entities that operate on a cross-border basis in both the United States and Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario or QuÉbec. According to the CFTC, the MOU

The CFTC will hold a public roundtable on April 3, 2014, to discuss issues concerning end users and the Dodd-Frank Act. The roundtable will consist of three panels discussing: the obligations of end users under CFTC Rule 1.35 ("Records of Commodity, Interest and Related Cash or Forward Transactions") concerning recordkeeping for commodity interest and related cash or forward transactions; the appropriate regulatory treatment of forward contracts with embedded volumetric optionality; and the appropriate regulatory treatment for purposes of the $25 million (special entity) de minimis threshold

The CFTC announced the filing and settling of charges against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC ("MSSB"), a registered futures commission merchant ("FCM"), for violating CFTC rules governing secured funds of foreign futures and option customers, commingling customer and firm funds, failing to prepare accurate daily computations of its segregated and secured funds, failing to properly title account statements for four customer segregated accounts, and failing to diligently supervise its employees' handling of matters related to its business as a CFTC registrant. According to the Order, none of

The SEC published in the Federal Register its proposed rules that would enhance the oversight of clearing agencies that are deemed to be systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") or that are involved in complex transactions, such as security-based swaps ("covered clearing agencies"). The covered clearing agencies would be subject to new and "more robust" requirements regarding their financial risk management, operations, governance and disclosures to market participants and the public. The proposal also would establish procedures for the SEC to use to apply

The IRS has announced that it will treat Bitcoin and other virtual currency that has an equivalent value in real currency or that acts as a substitute for real currency, as property for tax purposes and not foreign currency. As a result, the general principals applying to property transactions apply to virtual currency. Thus, taxpayers could claim capital gains and losses on Bitcoin that the taxpayer uses to acquire other property or to pay for services. In Notice 2014-21 (linked below) the IRS addressed 16 "frequently asked questions" on the taxation of virtual currency. For example, a