The SEC published the order making annual adjustments to registration fee rates for fiscal year 2014 in the Federal Register. The order states that public companies and other issuers will be required to pay a registration fee of $128.80 per million dollars in 2014. This adjusted fee rate applies to Securities Act Section 6(b) ("Registration of Securities"), Exchange Act Section 13(e) ("Periodical and Other Reports") and Section 14(g) ("Proxies"), and will become effective on October 1, 2013. See: 78 FR 54934. See also: SEC Issues Fee Rate Advisory: FY 2014 (August 30, 2013).

The U.S. Department of Treasury removed all references to, or requirement reliance on, "credit ratings" in the IRS Code pursuant to Section 939A ("Removal of Statutory Reference to Credit Ratings") of Dodd-Frank. Additionally, the Treasury Department added substitute standards of credit-worthiness where appropriate. See: 78 FR 54758.

The Futures Industry Association ("FIA") released a set of recommendations for increasing the usefulness of Drop Copy systems in exchange-traded markets. Drop Copy systems provide a way to monitor trading activity in real-time, and help maintain the risk management processes of brokers, trading firms, and end-users. The systems produce reports generated at the point of execution that summarize a participant's activity in a trading venue, including order state changes, modifications, rejections, and cancellations. FIA offered the recommendations in order to help promote the wider adoption and

The Delta Strategy Group released an update regarding the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's and the International Organization of Securities Commissions' (" IOSCO") final framework for margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives released on September 2. Under these global standards, all financial firms and systemically important non-financial entities that engage in non-centrally cleared derivatives will have to exchange initial and variation margins commensurate with the counterparty risks arising from such transactions. See: Click here to see the Basel Committee and

The Alternative Investment Management Association ("AIMA") published an enhanced statement of AIMA policy principles. The paper establishes the AIMA's core set of beliefs in investor protection, regulatory consistency, systemic risk and market integrity. See: AIMA Enhanced Statement of Policy Principles.