In a speech before the Independent Directors Council, SEC Director of the Division of Investment Management ("Division") Norm Champ focused on the following key items: (i) the role of independent directors in protecting investors, (ii) improvement initiatives within the Division, with particular focus on the newly created Risk and Examinations Office, and (iii) communication between independent directors and the Division regarding fund governance. Director Champ outlined the central role of mutual funds for the average American investor. In emphasizing the SEC's main mission of "protecting

The CFTC has announced that it filed 82 enforcement actions in fiscal year ("FY") 2013, bringing the total over the past three fiscal years to 283 - nearly double the number of actions brought during the prior three fiscal years. The Division of Enforcement ("Division") also imposed more than $1.7 billion in sanctions, including orders for more than $1.5 billion in civil monetary penalties and more than $200 million in restitution and disgorgement. The Division noted, however, that the total number of actions is down compared to FY 2012. The CFTC details the following as enforcement highlights

In his October 23 blog post, economist Craig Pirrong discusses the lack of clarity in CFTC rulemaking relating to SEFs (and other issues), in particular criticizing the CFTC's practice of adopting requirements that are contained in difficult to interpret footnotes. Lofchie Comment: In another news story about CFTC footnotes, Chairman Gensler was quoted as saying, "swap dealers must be careful how they interpret regulations." This is an interesting comment in two respects: (i) first, the whole point of the controversy over footnotes in CFTC regulations is that the market does not know what

The SEC released notification of an immediately effective FINRA filing which revises the content outline and selection specifications for the Investment Company and Variable Contracts Products Representative (Series 6) examination program. The SEC is soliciting comments which should be submitted on or before 21 days from publication in the Federal Register. We previously reported this FINRA rule filing on October 16, 2013. See: SEC Notice. See also: Text of Proposed Rule Change.

New SRO rules and rule proposals have been announced by the SEC. Click on the links below to view the SEC's notice of the rule changes. NASDAQ: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change to Implement Transition to Friday Expiration for Most Options Contracts (See also: Exhibit 5) NASDAQ OMX BX: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change to Implement Transition to Friday Expiration for Most Options Contracts (See also: Exhibit 5) Phlx: Effective Immediately - Proposed Rule Change to Implement Transition to Friday Expiration for Most Options Contracts (See also: Exhibit 5)