Guernsey, the Isle of Man, and Jersey have jointly issued draft Guidance Notes with respect to both the U.S. and UK FATCA Intergovernmental Agreements ("IGAs") that were entered into by the Crown Dependencies and the U.S. and UK in late 2013. The purpose of the 145-page draft is to provide "practical assistance" to both businesses and the Crown Dependencies' staff in interpreting and complying with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA"). The draft Guidance Notes are intended as a "work in progress" and are subject to comments by all interested parties. The Crown Dependencies expect

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued three separate no-action letters providing relief to CPOs regarding the filing of their annual financial statements and reports, pursuant to CFTC Rule 4.7(b)(3) ("Exemption from Certain Part 4 Requirements for Commodity Pool Operators with Respect to Offerings to Qualified Eligible Persons and for Commodity Trading Advisors with Respect to Advising Qualified Eligible Persons") and Rule 4.22(d) ("Reporting to Pool Participants"). CFTC Letter 14-09 granted relief to a CPO that requested exemption from the requirement of

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued a no-action letter stating that it will not take enforcement action against a registered futures commission merchant ("FCM") that holds certain Regulation 30.7 customer accounts in London and Hong Kong. According to the letter, the FCM's London and Hong Kong 30.7 accounts have "bank exemptions" from client money rules; however, under the new amendments to CFTC Rule 30.7(c) ("Treatment of Foreign Futures or Foreign Options Secured Amount"), an FCM may not waive any protections afforded customer funds under the laws of

The SEC Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to provide information regarding "the basics" of variable annuities. The bulletin stated that, before investing in a variable annuity, an investor should (i) know how variable annuities work, including why variable annuities are not appropriate for short-term investors, (ii) understand the key features of products, and (iii) realize that variable annuities carry a certain amount of risk which can lead an investor to lose money. See: SEC Investor Bulletin.

The SEC held an open meeting to review and approve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") 2014 budget and accounting support fee. Commissioners Aguilar, Gallagher and Stein issued statements commending the PCAOB and stating their support for the 2014 budget and accounting support fee.