The MSRB began providing, on its Electronic Municipal Market Access ("EMMA") website, statistics on the number and type of disclosure filings that issuers of municipal securities make available to investors throughout the life of a bond. The database provides life-cycle information about municipal bonds, including (i) annual financial information, (ii) bond calls, and (iii) credit rating changes. The continuing disclosure statistics on the EMMA website represent monthly volumes since 2010, categorized by types of disclosure. The disclosures themselves are also available on the EMMA website

The CFTC's Division of Clearing and Risk (Division) issued a no-action letter that provides relief from required clearing for a limited set of swaps that are generated as part of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise. The Division will not recommend that the CFTC take enforcement action against any person for failing to clear (1) swaps that are amended in order to reduce notional value as part of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise and (2) new swaps that are entered into to replace the original swaps as a result of a multilateral portfolio compression exercise, provided that

The SEC settled civil fraud charges against Susan Skaer, the former General Counsel and Secretary of Mercury Interactive Corporation, by requiring her to pay more than $850,000 to settle civil charges that she had participated in the improper backdating of stock options. Lofchie Comment: According to the prior SEC actions in this matter, which are linked to from the Litigation Release, Ms. Skaer did not merely act as a lawyer in this matter; she also received improperly backdated options. View Litigation Release in full here (links externally to SEC website).

CME Clearing Europe announced that is has received FSA approval and launched real-time, open access clearing of Interest Rate Swaps. This is the first step in CME Clearing Europe's expansion into clearing OTC financial derivatives. Andrew Lamb, Chief Executive Officer of CME Clearing Europe, stated that CME Clearing Europe will be looking to "expand this further with the launch of OTC FX later this year, and the provision of clearing services for CME Europe which, pending regulatory approval, will launch in the second quarter."

Rolston Anglin, the Cayman Islands Minister for Financial Services, has reportedly announced on the floor of the Cayman Legislative Assembly that the Cayman Islands Government will adopt a Model 1 type FATCA IGA with the U.S. Mr. Anglin also reportedly announced that the Government had decided to enter into a similar agreement with the U.K. and that final negotiations with the U.S. and the U.K. would conclude quickly. For a compilation of our news stories on FATCA, see "Current Topics - FATCA."