FINRA issued a regulatory notice regarding the SEC-approved amendments to treat over-the-counter ("OTC") options cleared by the Options Clearing Corporation ("OCC") as conventional options for purposes of FINRA Rule 2360 ("Options") and Rule 4210("Margin Requirements"). OCC-cleared OTC options will be considered conventional for purposes of position limit and reporting requirements and delivery of certain disclosure documents, and will be considered listed options for purposes of margin requirements including maintenance margin requirements and portfolio margin requirements. The effective date

The SEC's Division of Investment Management has issued a no-action letter concerning Investment Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-2 ("Custody of Funds or Securities of Clients by Investment Advisers"). The "Custody Rule" indirectly requires that auditors who perform certain functions for SEC-regulated entities be subject to regular inspection by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"). According to the SEC letter, however, the PCAOB has yet to adopt a permanent program for such inspections. Therefore, the SEC previously issued a no-action letter stating that the SEC would not take

SEC Chair Mary Jo White spoke at the Practicing Law Institute's 45 th Annual Securities Regulation Institute about the less publicized aspects of the SEC. Chair White began by explaining that the media only catches a small sampling of the work that goes on at the SEC, yet all work is vital to maintaining the integrity of the securities markets and investor confidence. According to Chair White, one aspect of the SEC that is often under-publicized is the Office of International Affairs, which builds and expands international relationships that make regulatory coordination and cooperation

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held an open session to conduct a hearing on "Housing Finance Reform: Protecting Small Lender Access to the Secondary Mortgage Market." The hearing focused on the future of housing reform. In particular, witnesses discussed Senate Bill 1217 (" S. 1217"), entitled, "The Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act." C lick here for a summary of the hearing by Delta Strategy Group. See: Senate Hearing Page; Testimony of Mr. Richard Swanson; Testimony of Mr. William A. Loving, Jr.; Testimony of Mr. Bill Hampel; Testimony of Mr. Bill

FINRA announced that it has fined TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc. and SG Americas Securities, Inc. a total of $1.8 million for failing to report or accurately report certain large options positions and for related supervisory deficiencies. FINRA found that, from May 2007 to January 2010, TD Ameritrade failed to properly aggregate certain reportable positions as acting-in-concert, which resulted in the firm failing to report approximately 1.4 million positions. Additionally, FINRA found that TD Ameritrade failed to establish and maintain reasonable supervisory procedures and systems to ensure