FINRA released a podcast summarizing the latest FINRA notices, news and compliance resources for October 2013. The recent news discussed in the podcast included FINRA's request for comments regarding portal funding rules and regulated forms that regulate Crowdfunding proposals. FINRA stated that these new rules mirror the SEC's proposed Crowdfunding regulations. Additionally, the podcast summarized recently released compliance resources, including a new video, "A Few Minutes with FINRA," and a speech with FINRA CEO, Rick Ketchum, both of which discussed the Conflicts of Interest Report. In

FINRA filed a proposed rule with the SEC amending FINRA Rule 6433 ("Minimum Quotation Size Requirements for OTC Equity Securities") to extend the tier size pilot, which is currently schedule to expire on November 12, 2013. According to FINRA, extending the operation of the tier size pilot for an additional year will provide the SEC with more thorough data about the impact of the tier size pilot on quoted OTC equity securities over a longer time period. FINRA will continue to provide the SEC with certain pre- and post-pilot data. See: Text of the Proposed Rule Change. Related news: SEC Approves

CME Group, the Customer Class Representatives in the ongoing MF Global multi-district litigation ("Customer Representatives"), and James W. Giddens, Trustee for the Securities Investor Protection Act ("SIPA") liquidation of MF Global Inc. ("MFGI") announced agreements that will resolve any claims by or against CME Group in connection with the MF Global matter. The agreement will allow CME to assert a $29 million claim against MFGI based on expenses incurred by CME as a result of the company's bankruptcy. The new claim was reserved under the prior settlement agreement between CME and Trustee

The CFTC is requesting public comment on an amended request from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc., the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc., New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., Commodity Exchange, Inc., and the Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc. (collectively, "the Exchanges"), for approval of amendments to existing Rule 538 ("Exchange for Related Positions") of the Exchanges' rulebooks and the issuance of CME Group Market Regulation Advisory Notice RA1311-5. The Exchanges filed a related request on September 12, 2013, seeking approval of the amendments to the rule and

The CFTC filed a Complaint against AlphaMetrix, LLC ("AlphaMetrix"), a Chicago-based CPO and CTA, for misappropriating funds belonging to commodity pools it operated and sending false or misleading account statements to at least some of the pool participants. According to the Complaint, AlphaMetrix had agreements with some participants to rebate certain fees by reinvesting the funds in the pools for the participants. However, the CFTC alleged that between at least January 1 and October 31, 2013, AlphaMetrix failed to reinvest at least $2.8 million of the rebates owed to participants and