The SEC has charged Bank of America and two subsidiaries with defrauding investors in a residential mortgage-backed security ("RMBS") offering by failing to disclose risks and misrepresenting facts about the underlying mortgages. See: SEC Press Release; SEC Complaint against Bank of America; DOJ Press Release.

The CFTC's Division of Market Oversight has issued an amendment to CFTC No-Action Letter No. 13-48, which grants relief from the aggregation prohibition in 43.6(h)(6) ("Block Trades of Large Notional Off-Facility Swaps") of the CFTC Rules for certain CTAs and IAs with respect to large notional off-facility swaps. The relief has an October 1 end date for swaps that are traded on a CFTC-regulated market and an indefinite extension for swaps not traded on a market. The letter emphasizes that the relief is only available where the aggregated swaps are executed in a single transaction. See: Amended

The CFTC issued a correction to a cross-reference in CFTC Rule 37.702 and related guidance. The rule and guidance applies to the registration and operation of swap execution facilities. See: 78 FR 150.

SEC granted Barclays an exemption from Rule 101 ("Activities by Distribution Participants") and Rule 102 ("Activities by Issuers and Selling Security Holders During a Distribution") of Regulation M under the Exchange Act to permit certain Barclays Affiliates to continue conducting specified transactions outside the U.S. See: SEC Exemptive Relief Letter.For a full description of Regulation M, see the Trading Chapter of the Guide to Broker-Dealer Regulation.

Former SEC Commissioner Troy A. Paredes made a very brief statement on his departure from the Commission and congratulated newly confirmed SEC commissioners Mike Piwowar and Kara Stein. See: Paredes' full statement. See also: Senate Confirms White, Stein, and Piwowar to SEC Posts.