The SEC Division of Corporate Finance issued a no-action letter to UBS AG in response to its request for relief from being considered an "ineligible issuer" under Securities Act Rule 405(1)(v) ("Definitions of Terms"). The request for relief came after a September judgment against UBS Securities Japan Co., Ltd. found it guilty of felony wire fraud in connection with improper activities in Yen LIBOR. See: SEC No-Action Letter.

FINRA requested comments on a revised proposal to transfer the NASD Rule 1010 Series ("Membership Proceedings") into the Consolidated FINRA Rulebook as the FINRA Rule 1100 Series ("Membership Application"). The revised proposal includes changes in response to comments on its prior proposal set forth in FINRA Regulatory Notice 10-01. The proposal also includes additional provisions to address regulatory issues identified by FINRA staff and codify existing membership-related interpretations and practices. See: FINRA Regulatory Notice 13-29; Text of Proposed Rule Change.

The Managed Funds Association ("MFA") and the Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA") submitted a letter to John Ramsay, Acting Director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets, to express buy-side concerns with the SEC's requirements for approving individual broker-dealer/futures commission merchant margin methodologies for the CDS customer portfolio margin program. In the letter, the MFA and AIMA request that the SEC make permanent its six-month uniform customer margin level. The letter asserts that the current uncertainty as to the eventual future minimum margin level

The CFTC approved the applications of trueEX, LLC and ICE Swap Trade, LLC for temporary registration as swap execution facilities pursuant to CFTC Rule 37.3. See: CFTC Letter to trueEX; CFTC Letter to ICE Swap Trade; CFTC Press Release. See also: CFTC Issues Notice of Temporary SEF Registration to TeraExchange, LLC (September 19, 2013); CFTC Issues Notice of Temporary SEF Registration to Javelin SEF, LLC and BGC Derivative Markets, L.P. (September 19, 2013); CME Group Files Application to Register as SEF (September 19, 2013); CFTC Issues Notice of Temporary Registration as SEFs to SwapEx, LLC

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton delivered a speech on the continuing budget debates in Congress and the implications they could have for consumers, the CFTC, and the futures market in his speech "Boom, Boom, Out Go the Lights." Commissioner Chilton explained that if a government shutdown were to happen, it would impede the CFTC's ability to "go after crooks" who are evading regulatory oversight and protection of markets. He assured the audience that the "'do-badders' are licking their chops," and that it is vital that the government remain open in order to maintain the CFTC's market oversight