The House Financial Services Committee announced that it will hold a full committee hearing on February 5, 2014, to examine the impact of the Volcker Rule. The following witnesses are scheduled to appear: Daniel Tarullo, Governor, Federal Reserve Board; Mary Jo White, Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission; Thomas Curry, Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; Martin Gruenberg, Chair, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Mark Wetjen, Acting Chair, Commodity Futures Trading Commission. See : Committee Memorandum. Related news: House Committee on

SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar delivered remarks concerning the problem of elderly financial abuse, as well as regulatory initiatives that the SEC is taking to safeguard retirement assets, before the American Retirement Initiative's Winter 2014 Summit. Commissioner Aguilar stated that the SEC is taking the following steps (among others): strengthening its examination programs, partnering with other regulators, and sponsoring events that are designed to address issues which are important to senior investors. See : Text of Commissioner Aguilar's Speech.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (the "Chamber") submitted an amicus brief in support of the ISDA, SIFMA and the Institute of International Bankers' ("IIB") (together, the "Associations") motion for summary judgment in the case filed against the CFTC's Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (the "Cross-Border Rule"). According to the Chamber's amicus brief, the CFTC Cross-Border rule reflects a troubling pattern of administrative agencies' labeling their regulations as "policy statements" or "guidance" to circumvent the procedural requirements

The CFTC announced the revocation of the registrations of Chicago Trading Managers LLC ("CT Managers"). CT Managers had been registered with the CFTC as a CPO and CTA. On December 27, 2013, CFTC Judgment Officer Philip V. McGuire issued a decision against CT Managers, finding that it was statutorily disqualified from CFTC registration based on a default judgment and permanent injunction order entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on May 15, 2013. Additionally, the default judgment ordered CT Managers to pay a civil monetary penalty of $1.4 million jointly and

The SEC announced the latest actions in its microcap fraud-fighting initiative, better known as "Operation Shell-Expel," suspending trading in 255 dormant shell companies "ripe for abuse" in the over-the-counter ("OTC") market. Operation Shell-Expel is a pump-and-dump scheme in which perpetrators tout a thinly traded microcap stock through false and misleading statements about the company to the marketplace. After purchasing the stock at a low price and pumping the price higher by creating the appearance of market activity, individuals dump the stock to make significant profits by selling it