The attached SIFMA Amicus Brief addresses whether, under the "listing theory," plaintiffs' foreign-cubed claims are within the scope of Exchange Act Section 10(b) and, thus, may be sued upon in federal court, because the securities that the foreign plaintiffs purchased on foreign exchanges also happened to be cross-listed on a U.S. exchange. Click here to view Amicus Brief (links externally to SIFMA website).

Effective May 20, 2013, ICE Futures U.S. ("IFUS") will adopt position limits, accountability levels and block trade requirements for newly listed physical environmental contracts. IFUS will also require large trader reporting for these contracts. For a complete listing of all position limits, accountability levels and reportable thresholds for Energy contracts, refer to the Position Limit, Accountability and Reportable Levels table on the ICE website. For a listing of block trade minimums for all Energy contracts, refer to the IFUS Energy Block Trade Requirements table. Click here to view

The MSRB released a short video that tells the story of the organization and explains the MSRB's role in the $3.7 trillion municipal securities market. The video is the first in a series of educational videos which the MSRB plans to make available as part of its digital strategy to promote municipal market education. See: MSRB Press Release.

The NASAA released a report documenting the successful completion of the transfer of mid-sized investment advisers from federal to state oversight as called for by the Dodd-Frank Act. "The Switch" stemmed from Dodd-Frank Section 410 ("State and Federal responsibilities; asset threshold for Federal registration of investment"), which raised the assets-under-management threshold for state regulation of investment advisers from $25 million to $100 million. Click here to view report (links externally to NASAA website). Related News: "NASAA Report: "The IA Switch" (with Lofchie Comment)" (May 14

CWT Partner Jennifer Donohue authored an article in the Journal of International Banking and Finance Law regarding Section 377 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and the topic of bank "bail in" power. Essentially, the article highlights the controversy over "bail in" tools for banks, whereby debt might be written down. However, this tool has been in existence with respect to insurance debt since 1870. Accordingly, the implications for creditors of insurance companies which arise as a result of complex insurance structures may be subject to this power. Furthermore, Donohue states