The SEC held a public meeting to propose rules and forms related to the offer and sale of securities pursuant to Section 3(b) of the Securities Act, as mandated by Title IV of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act"). The JOBS Act mandated the SEC increase offering guidelines, which allow small companies to issue securities and be exempt from registration. The current SEC Regulation A ("Reg. A") allows for small companies to issue securities and be exempt from registration for offerings up to $5 million in a 12-month period. The proposed rule amendments keep that limit but also

The IRS announced that it has finalized the format for automatically exchanging FATCA data with countries that have entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement ("IGA") with the United States to exchange account information on accounts owned or held directly or indirectly by U.S. persons. According to the IRS, the Intergovernmental FATCA XML Schema (version 1.1), which was posted on the IRS FATCA web site on December 19, is a standard format developed in close cooperation with the OECD using elements from existing reporting schemas used by OECD and the European Union in order to reduce the

SIFMA has announced that Ananias ("Andy") Blocker will serve as the new executive Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy. Mr. Blocker will be responsible, starting in January, for SIFMA's governmental affairs and advocacy initiatives. See: Press Release.

The CFTC has approved NFA Compliance Rule 2-49 ("Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants Regulations"), which provides the NFA with increased oversight and enforcement ability in order to meet enforcement requirements. The new rule provides that any violation by a swap dealer ("SD"), major swap participant ("MSP") or "Member" pursuant to CFTC Rule 3.3 ("Chief Compliance Officer") or any of the applicable CFTC Part 23 Rules ("Swap Dealers and Major Swap Participants") would also be deemed a violation of an NFA requirement. In determining whether a Member violated NFA Compliance Rule 2-49, the

The National Futures Association ("NFA") issued a notice to its members regarding the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's ("FinCEN") advisory announcing that the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") has updated its list of jurisdictions with Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism ("AML/CFT") deficiencies. According to the notice, NFA Member futures commission merchants ("FCMs") and IBs should review this Advisory to ensure that their AML programs have the most current information on FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies, and should revise their AML