The U.S. Department of Treasury announced that the United States signed an intergovernmental agreement ("IGA") with France to implement FATCA. According to the U.S. Treasury, France was among the first countries to "champion" the underlying goals of FATCA. To date, ten FATCA IGAs have been signed. See: France and U.S. IGA; U.S. Treasury Press Release. See also: Cadwalader's Guide to FATCA by Daniel Mulcahy, Mark Howe and Steven Lofchie; FATCA IGA Archive.

FINRA has announced that Mike Rufino will become Head of Member Regulation - Sales Practice - and Bill Wollman will become Head of Member Regulation - Risk Oversight and Operational Regulation ("ROOR"). Rufino and Wollman will report to Susan Axelrod, FINRA Executive Vice President of Regulatory Operations. Lofchie Comment: Congratulations to Messrs. Rufino and Wollman, both dedicated financial regulators. See: FINRA News Release.

The CFTC published final rules enhancing protections afforded customers and customer funds held by futures commission merchants ("FCMs") and derivatives clearing organizations ("DCOs") in the Federal Register. The new regulations amend existing regulations to require enhanced customer protection, risk management programs, internal monitoring and controls, capital and liquidity standards, customer disclosures, and auditing and examination programs for FCMs. The regulations also address certain related issues concerning DCOs and chief compliance officers. The effective date of these rules is

The CFTC Divisions of Clearing and Risk, Market Oversight, and Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight issued guidance to swap execution facilities ("SEFs") cautioning that the rules of various SEFs may be in conflict with the CFTC's requirement of "impartial access." Among the SEF rules or requirements that were mentioned by the CFTC as being problematic were (i) requiring that market participants have a pre-execution agreement, such as a breakage agreement, (ii) requiring that firms be either a swap dealer or a clearing member in order to see Requests for Quotes, (iii) limiting access to

The CFTC Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued an advisory which clarified that the Transaction-Level Requirements, as defined in the CFTC Interpretive Guidance and Policy Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations, are applicable to non-U.S. SDs that enter into swaps with a non-U.S. person if the swap is arranged, negotiated, or executed by personnel or agents of a non-U.S. SD located in the United States . According to the letter, the DSIO believes that the CFTC intended substituted compliance to be available, or for Transaction-Level