The U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district court's ruling upholding amendments to CFTC Rule 4.5 requiring operators of mutual funds with commodity investments to register with the agency. The amendments had been challenged by a coalition comprised of two trade associations - the Investment Company Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce - on the grounds that the CFTC failed to address its rationale for repealing rule amendments issued in 2003 that exempted mutual funds from CPO regulation, and for failing to conduct an adequate cost-benefit analysis of the new amendments. In

MFA submitted the attached letter to staff from the Division of Trading and Markets of the SEC providing detail on the legal segregation with operational commingling ("LSOC") model that the CFTC adopted as the baseline segregation model for cleared swaps. This letter is a follow-up to MFA's February 22, 2013, letter on the SEC's proposed capital, margin and segregation rules, in which the MFA recommended that the SEC adopt LSOC as the default segregation model for cleared security-based swaps. The letter touches upon the following: The general requirements of LSOC, The requirements for

SEC Chairman Mary Jo White testified regarding the $1.674 billion SEC budget request for the coming fiscal year. She highlighted the following critical areas as top priorities and important drivers of the SEC budget: The completion of the rulemaking mandates contained in Dodd-Frank and the JOBS Act; Strengthening the core enforcement and examination functions of the SEC; and Better positioning the SEC to provide adequate oversight of today's highly complex and dispersed marketplace. White then discussed the budget request itself, explaining that the additional funding would be allocated

According to correspondence between the CFTC, CIO and ICE Trade Vault, the CFTC has changed parts of the reporting fields for other commodity swaps, including Part 43 ("Real-Time Public Reporting") and Part 45 ("Swap Data Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements"). Pantano Comment: These changes, should they go into effect, will require substantial IT systems and upgrades. Firms may wish to consider commenting to the CFTC that the changes should not be effective absent a formal rulemaking process, including publication of the proposed changes in the Federal Register and an opportunity to

The House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) stated that he welcomed the United States Supreme Court's announcement of its decision to hear a case over the validity of President Obama's "recess appointments" of three individuals to the National Labor Relations Board ("NLRB") on January 4, 2012. According to Representative Hensarling, the Court's decision regarding the constitutionality of the NLRB appointments will effectively determine the constitutionality of Richard Cordray's appointment to head the CFPB. See: Financial Services Committee Announcement.