The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued a no-action letter as to certain duties imposed on swap dealers pursuant to the CFTC's Business Conduct Standards with Counterparties ("External BCS"), as well as from certain documentation requirements imposed on SDs pursuant to CFTC Rule 23.504 ("Swap trading relationship documentation"). The relief is available for an "Intended-to-Be-Cleared Swap" ("ITBC Swap"), a swap that is intended to be submitted for clearing contemporaneously with the execution of such swap. Subject to extensive conditions, the letter

The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued the attached no-action letter which provides certain swap dealers ("SDs") with limited relief regarding the requirement that chief compliance officers of such SDs prepare and submit an Annual Report, pursuant to CFTC Rule 3.3. The relief provided in the no-action letter is relevant only to firms that: Are not registrants of the SEC or regulated by a U.S. prudential regulator; and Ended their fiscal year on March 31, 2013 ("Covered Firms") (and thus which must file their CCO certification by July 31). The no-action

The CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued the attached no-action letter which relates to the terms that are included in portfolio reconciliations. CFTC Rule 23.502 requires that swap counterparties engage in portfolio reconciliation (or provide opportunities for portfolio reconciliation) at regular intervals. This no-action relief identifies 11 data fields that may be excluded from such portfolio reconciliations; i.e., terms that the parties do not have to confirm are matched. Lofchie Comment: The available relief relates to conditions that are irrelevant to

The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to educate investors about interest rate risk: the fundamental principle of bond investing in which interest rates and bond prices move in opposite directions. The SEC explained when market interest rates rise, the price of fixed-rate bonds fall. The SEC also noted that, due to this relationship, it is particularly important for investors to consider interest rate risk when they purchase bonds in a low-interest-rate environment. See: SEC Investor Bulletin.

Committee Chairman, Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), opened with his assessment that the Dodd-Frank Act has enshrined taxpayer-funded bailouts. In his remarks, Representative Hensarling took the view that the designation of a firm as being "systemically important" was equivalent to identifying them as "too big to fail" and thus as likely recipients of a government bailout if they did fail. He also indicated that certain of the government's existing guarantee programs were in significant debt, including the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which he argued demonstrated the inability of the government