CFTC Acting Chairman Mark Wetjen and Commissioner Scott O'Malia issued statements regarding the $215 million budget for the CFTC in the omnibus appropriations bill approved by Congress. Chairman Wetjen stated that he is pleased the House and Senate agreed on the appropriations bill. He stated that the funding is "a step in the right direction," but noted that the CFTC will continue to work with Congress to secure the resources to match new responsibilities. Commissioner O'Malia expressed his appreciation for the efforts of Congress to provide the CFTC with a "modest increase in Commission

The CFTC adopted and published in the Federal Register technical amendments to the CFTC regulations that correct cross-references to regulations administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury, under the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA"). FinCEN's regulations have been reorganized and transferred to a new chapter in the Code of Federal Regulations. The amendments become effective on January 14, 2014. See: 79 FR 2370.

The CFTC published in the Federal Register the extension of the comment period for the aggregation of position rule proposal until February 10, 2014. Previously, the comment periods for the CFTC's proposal on the aggregation of positions and the proposal on position limits had differed. In order to provide interested parties with an opportunity to comment on both proposals at the same time, the CFTC is extending the comment period for its proposal on aggregation. See: 79 FR 2394. See generally: CFTC Rule Calendar (accessible to Cabinet subscribers only). Related news: CFTC Extends Public

The CFTC announced that it filed a civil injunctive enforcement action against Vertical Integration Group LLC ("Vertical") and its owners for engaging in illegal, off-exchange financed transactions involving precious metals with retail customers. The CFTC complaint alleged that Vertical solicited retail customers to buy physical precious metals in off-exchange leveraged transactions from July 2011 through February 2013. Specifically, the CFTC alleged that customers paid Vertical a portion of the purchase price for the metals, and Vertical financed the remainder of the purchase price, while

The SEC announced that compliance with the final municipal advisor registration rules will not be required until July 1, 2014, the date on which the first set of municipal advisors will be required to register under the final rules. See: Temporary Stay of Final Rule; Press Release. See also: SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Municipal Advisor Registration Rules.