Elizabeth A. Duke submitted her resignation as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, effective August 31, 2013. Ms. Duke has made no announcements about her future plans. See: Federal Reserve Press Release.

The SEC has adopted a final rule to permit registered broker-dealers ("BDs") under its supervision to engage in retail foreign exchange transactions, provided such BDs comply with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and SEC and FINRA rules as they are applicable to retail forex transactions. The rule adopted by the SEC, Exchange Act Rule 15b12-1, is substantially the same as that previously adopted as an interim final temporary rule two years ago and includes a three-year sunset provision that expires on July 31, 2016. Unlike retail forex rules adopted by the CFTC and several banking agencies

The SEC approved three final rules implementing the JOBS Act at an open meeting on Rule 506 of Regulation D ("Exemption for Limited Offers and Sales without Regard to Dollar Amount of Offering") of the Securities Act. The following rules were approved: Amendments to Rule 506 of Regulation D and Rule 144A to Section 201(a) ("Modification of Rules") of the JOBS Act so as to eliminate the prohibition on general solicitation and advertising for certain offerings made pursuant to Rule 506 and Rule 144A ("Private Resales of Securities to Institutions") under the Securities Act, where the relevant

In accordance with its authority under Title I of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC") designated two nonbank financial companies for consolidated supervision and enhanced prudential standards by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The companies are: American International Group, Inc. ("AIG"); and General Electric Capital Corporation, Inc. ("GECC"). Lofchie Comment:It had been widely reported that Prudential also would be named as systemically significant, but that Prudential (unlike AIG and GE) intended to resist such a designation. See: American

Former Senator Blanche Lincoln and former Congressional staffer Hester Peirce released articles titled, Filling the International Financial Reform Leadership Void, and Regulation without Representation, respectively, which urged CFTC Chairman Gensler to scale back his interpretation of the CFTC's authority to regulate non-U.S. swaps and swap dealers. Former Senator Lincoln generally praised CFTC Chairman Gensler, but also asserted that his expansive view of the CFTC's authority is not consistent with Congressional intent. In pertinent part, she states: "Section 722(d) [of Dodd-Frank] states