CFTC Commissioner Scott O'Malia delivered the keynote address at the SWIFT Institute's Future of Financial Standards Forum in which he discussed how to transform regulatory oversight both domestically and internationally through technological innovation. Commissioner O'Malia addressed the future of financial standards, specifically stating that developing technology and data standards can "increase efficiency and reduce costs for not only the industry, but also regulators." Pointing to SWIFT's success in using technology and data standards to evolve and keep pace with technological innovations

SEC Chair Mary Jo White delivered a speech at the Annual Forum of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") in which she discussed international cooperation and efforts in the enforcement of the regulation of global markets. Chair White explained that the 2002 IOSCO creation of the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding ("MMOU") was the first major step in recognizing that proper policing of international activity in the securities and derivatives markets required greater international cooperation among regulatory agencies. According to Chair White, both the SEC and ASIC

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") announced that it is supplementing the examination procedures in the "Risk Management of Financial Derivatives" booklet of the Comptroller's Handbook. The OCC stated that, since the publication of "Risk Management of Financial Derivatives," national banks (particularly large banks) significantly expanded their end-user derivatives and trading activities, requiring focused examination procedures to detect, monitor and evaluate these activities' risks. The new procedures expand on and replace the general procedures for evaluating banks'

The SEC announced the agenda and panelists for its March 26, 2014, roundtable on the issues and challenges cybersecurity presents for market participants and public companies. The roundtable will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be divided into four panels: Panel 1 will discuss the cybersecurity landscape; Panel 2 will discuss cybersecurity disclosure issues faced by public companies; Panel 3 will discuss the cybersecurity issues faced by exchanges and other key market systems; and Panel 4 will discuss how broker-dealers, investment advisers and transfer agents address cybersecurity issues

Linked below is an article published in the International Financial Law Review ("IFLR") that was authored by Robert Dilworth and discusses the CFTC's extension of the U.S. regulatory relief granted to EU multilateral trading facilities ("MTFs") and its announcement of imminent modifications to the CFTC-proposed regime for Qualifying MTFs. The article analyzes what this latest no-action letter means for swap execution on organized facilities. To read the full article, see " CFTC Extends Proposed Relief for EU MTFs," by Robert Dilworth. This article was used with the permission of the