The SEC has approved the proposed rule amendments to Rule G-11 ("Primary Offering Practices"), Rule G-8 ("Books and Records to Be Made by Brokers, Dealers, and Municipal Securities Dealers"), and Rule G-32 ("Disclosures in Connection with Primary Offerings"). The revised MSRB rules will establish certain basic regulatory standards relating to the use of retail order periods in primary offering of municipal securities. The changes to the rules will take effect on March 31, 2014. See: MSRB Rule Release; MSRB Press Release. See also: MSRB Files Amendment to Proposed Rule Change to Rules G-11, G-8

The SEC issued an order approving FINRA's proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 9217 ("Violations Appropriate for Disposition Under Plan Pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 19d-1(c)(2)"). The proposed rule change was filed with the SEC in July 2013, and amends FINRA Rule 9217 to include additional rule violations eligible for disposition under FINRA's Minor Rule Violation Plan ("MRVP"). In the proposal, FINRA stated that it believes the purpose of the MRVP is to provide reasonable but meaningful sanctions for minor or technical violations of rules when the conduct at issue does not warrant

Matthew Martens, Chief Litigation Counsel for the Division of Enforcement, will leave the SEC in October. Mr. Martens had lately been in the press for his role in the "Fabulous Fab" matter. Matthew Solomon will be the named new Chief Litigation Counsel. Mr. Solomon has served as the deputy Chief Litigation Counsel since June 2012. See: SEC Press Release Martens to Leave SEC; SEC Press Release Solomon named Chief Litigation Counsel.

The CFTC's Division of Market Oversight (DMO) issued a time-limited no-action letter providing relief for temporarily registered swap execution facilities (SEFs) from any enforcement responsibilities with respect to market participants trading on those SEFs under the following CFTC Rules: 37.200(a) , 37.200(b) , 37.201(b)(1) , 37.201(b)(3) , 37.201(b)(5) , 37.202(b) and 37.203 . The no-action relief in this letter only applies to entities that have achieved temporary registration status as SEFs as of October 2, 2013. DMO stated that market participants should be provided additional time to

The CFTC issued an Order filing and settling charges against Vision Financial Markets LLC ("Vision"), a registered FCM and broker-dealer, for failing to segregate commodity and options customer funds, failing to notify the CFTC and Vision's designated self-regulatory organization of its under-segregation, and making misstatements to the CFTC about the location and manner in which the customer funds were being held. See: CFTC Order Against Vision; CFTC Press Release.