The MSRB and the Boston Women in Public Finance will co-host an education and outreach event for municipal market professionals on July 23, 2013, in Boston, MA. See: Press Release.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") issued identical letters to seven national banks approving their requests for a 24-month transition period under Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act (commonly known as the "Lincoln Amendment"). The letters, which track the statutory language of Section 716, allow the banks additional time under the transition period to cease or divest their swaps activities after the effective date of the Lincoln Amendment on July 16, 2013. Letters: Bank of America; Citibank; Wells Fargo; HSBC; JPMC; Morgan Stanley; U.S. Bank. Related News Items : FRB

The NFA’s Business Conduct Committee issued a complaint against Level III Management LLC ("L3M"), Level III Trading LLC ("L3T"), and Bruce A. Gwyn ("Gwyn"), alleging three counts of NFA compliance rule violations. Gwyn, who is the Listed Principle and Associated Person ("AP") of L3M and L3T, faces allegations which include the misappropriation of funds in one pool (Level III Trading Partners LP ("L3LP" or "the Fund")), using the Fund for his personal benefit, using questionable valuation methods of L3M's and his investments, as well as failing to comply with quarterly and annual NFA filing

The SEC charged cosmetics and beauty manufacturer Revlon with violating federal securities laws asserting that the company misled shareholders in a "going private transaction." An SEC investigation found that during a voluntary exchange offer to satisfy a significant debt to its controlling shareholder, Revlon did not inform its independent board members of certain critical information: a third-party financial adviser had found that the consideration offered in the transaction was inadequate. In an attempt to avoid its potential disclosure obligation, the company amended the agreement it had

SIMFA responded with additional proposals to MSRB's request for comment on its proposed sophisticated municipal market professional rules. SIMFA stated that it continues to support MSRB's proposed efforts to clarify Rule G-17 and still supports the requirement that proposed Rule G-48 reference a firm's reduced obligation to SMMPs by cross-referencing with proposed Rule G-48. However, SIFMA also would like to see several additional proposals simultaneously implemented by the MSRB. The SIFMA requests include: Proposed Rule D-15: Expanding the definition of Sophisticated Municipal Market