U.S. Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced a bill (H.R. 4167) to amend the Volcker Rule to exclude certain collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs") from the prohibition against a "banking entity" (essentially a bank or any affiliate of a bank) acquiring or retaining an ownership interest in a hedge fund or private equity fund. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services on March 6, 2014. See: Discussion Draft of H.R. 4167; Bill Summary and Status Report. See generally: The Cabinet's Volcker Materials (accessible to Cabinet subscribers only). Related news: Trade

New SRO rules and rule proposals were announced by the SEC. Click on the links below to view the SEC's notices of the rule changes for the week of March 3 - March 7: Trading NYSE: Rule Change Amending Supplementary Material .20 to NYSE Rule 103 Setting Forth Net Liquid Assets Requirements for Member Organizations that Operate as Designated Market Maker Units NYSE Arca: Rule Change Amending Its Rules in Order to Clarify the Applicability and Functionality of Certain Order Types on the Exchange NYSE MKT: Rule Change Amending Its Rules in Order to Clarify the Applicability and Functionality of

The SEC issued no-action relief to Canadian Stock Transfer Company Inc. ("CST") and its affiliate, CST Trust Company, from Exchange Act Section 15(a)(1) ("Registration and Regulation of Brokers and Dealers") if CST Trust engages in a limited business as a securities broker. The relief is subject to the same conditions set forth in an exemptive order granted to CIBC Mellon Trust Company on June 18, 2009. The requested relief was intended to allow CST to continue to operate CIBC Mellon Trust Company's former transfer agency business. CST stated that the no-action relief would help CST Stock Plan

FINRA released a podcast summarizing the latest FINRA notices, compliance resources, and news from February 2014. The podcast highlighted recent regulatory notices and their topics, including: 14-05, regarding the SEC-approved rule change to adopt additional financial and operational Rules 4314 ("Securities Loans and Borrowings"), 4330 ("Customer Protection - Permissible Use of Customers' Securities") and 4340 ("Callable Securities") for the consolidated FINRA Rulebook, effective May 1, 2014; 14-06, regarding updates to the embedded text of the Securities Exchange Act financial responsibility

Finland and Chile each signed Intergovernmental Agreements ("IGAs") under FATCA with the United States on March 5. Finland agreed to a Model 1A (Reciprocal) form of agreement under which Finnish Financial Institutions will be required to report information about accounts held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons to Finland's tax administration, which will in turn forward such information to U.S. tax authorities. Annex II to the Finnish IGA makes it clear that Finnvera Oyj – Finnvera plc, Vientiluotto Oy – Finnish Export Credit Ltd, and Kuntarahoitus Oyj – Municipality Finance plc are each