The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk has announced that certain exemptive relief regarding the Clearing Requirement is scheduled to expire on October 9, 2013. After the expiration date, exemptive relief from the Clearing Requirement will no longer be available for an entity that is covered as a U.S. person under the CFTC's interpretive guidance and policy statement regarding the cross-border application of the swaps provisions of the CEA. This includes certain collective investment vehicles organized outside the U.S. Furthermore, the CFTC anticipates certain transactions to be submitted

CFTC has approved the application of Bloomberg SEF LLC ("BSEF") for temporary registration as a swap execution facility ("SEF"). BSEF is the first entity for which the Commission has issued temporary registration as a SEF. It may begin operating after August 5, 2013, the effective date of the SEF rules. Lofchie Comment: Notwithstanding the existence of a SEF, no products will yet be subject to mandatory SEF or exchange trading. See: CFTC Press Release; Bloomberg SEF Letter.

The SEC has released its annual staff report relating to the use of data collected from Form PF. Form PF was implemented in 2011 as a provision of Section 404 ("Collection of Systemic Risk Data; Reports; Examinations; Disclosures") of Dodd-Frank, requiring certain registered investment advisers that advise private funds to report information to the Commission, primarily for the FSOC to assess systemic risk. At this point, the SEC has only recently received a complete set of initial filings and therefore has only started assessing the quality of the data collected. The report notes the

The MSRB published the second in a series of concept releases relating to the planned development of a new central transparency platform ("CTP") as part of the MSRB's long-range plan for market transparency. The MSRB is seeking comments from all interested parties on the specific data elements the MSRB should consider disseminating publicly through the CTP with respect to both pre-trade and post-trade pricing information. In addition, the MSRB is seeking input on the appropriate methods, technologies and data protocols that could be used in collecting pre-trade information in a manner that is

Jonathan L. Marcus, the general counsel for the CFTC, submitted a letter to the OMB on the Commission's fifth status update on "Phase One" of the CFTC's Plan for Retrospective Review of Agency Regulations. The update provides a summary of all the CFTC's final rules issued since the last status update in January 2013. These final rules establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for the registration and operation of SEFs and DCMs, requiring joint identity theft prevention programs and detailing the process that adjudications will take. The following final rules were addressed: Final Rule