Department of Treasury's Office of Financial Research ("OFR") issued its 2013 Annual Report. Dodd-Frank requires the OFR to report annually to Congress. This is OFR's second Annual Report following its first publication in July 2012. C lick here for a detailed summary of the OFR 2013 Annual Report prepared by Delta Strategy Group. Related news: Office of Financial Research Issues 2013 Annual Report to Congress (with Lofchie Comment) (December 17, 2013); Office of Financial Research 2012 Annual Report to Congress (July 23, 2012).

The SEC has published an additional interpretation (Interp. 105.06) to its Exchange Act Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations in regard to Rule 13d-5(b) ("Acquisition of Securities"), as to the circumstances in which the formation of a group results in attribution of beneficial ownership to each member of the group. See: Updated SEC Compliance and Disclosure Interpretations.

ICE Clear U.S. issued its processing schedule for Martin Luther King Day, January 20: the processing of transactions in PTMS and ACT should be completed by 1:30 p.m. Eastern; PCS file transfer to MFT or PCS submission through ECS for Monday's trades must be received by 2:00 p.m. Eastern; and Gross Customer Margin (GCM) File submission to MFT for Monday's trades must be received by 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Match-off files and clearing reports for the Monday, January 20 trading day will be available to members at approximately 3:00 p.m. Eastern on that day. See: Press Release.

FINRA filed an immediately effective rule amending FINRA Rule 2360 ("Options"). The rule amendment has the effect of increasing the position limit for standardized options on iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund ("EEM") to 500,000 contracts and likewise increases the position limit for conventional options on EEM to 500,000 contracts. See: Text of Rule Change.

FINRA filed a proposed rule change with the SEC regarding a new Capacity Management Plan ("Plan") for the Alternative Display Facility ("ADF") and to amend the ADF Trading Center Certification. FINRA proposed to adopt the plan which will allow FINRA members to opt-in to utilize the ADF for quoting and trade reporting. FINRA stated that each ADF Trading Center will be required to complete a certification process which involves testing its connectivity to the ADF with FINRA Product Management. Additionally, FINRA will require that the ADF Trading Centers submit volume projections for current and