The SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 7730 to establish two optional TRACE data delivery services and fees in connection with such services. Effective Date : June 10, 2013. See: Regulatory Notice 13-09 (the amended rule text is set forth on Attachment A).

The MSRB published the 2012 edition of its Fact Book, an online sourcebook that analyzes trade data and other statistics for the municipal bond market. This edition contains the following: New statistics on municipal market trading activity based on the credit rating and average yields of customer trades of municipal securities Analysis on 50 million trades that occurred over the last 5 years Monthly, quarterly and yearly aggregate market information from 2008 to 2012, covering different types of municipal issues, trades and rate resets View Fact Book in full here (links externally to MSRB

Lord Turner, Chairman of the Financial Services Authority, has told the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that new banks in the UK will be allowed to operate with lower capital requirements than existing banking institutions. The move, which is part of a greater regulatory effort to encourage competition in UK domestic banking, could allow startups to open with core capital of just 4.5% of their assets, adjusted for risk. Dominant banks in the UK currently require a core capital ratio of 9-10%. The reforms in banking capital are also expected to form part of a larger package aimed

The Financial Services authority has published guidance for firms who will be affected by notifications or clearing exemptions under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. Note that (i) notifications for non-financial counterparties exceeding the clearing threshold and (ii) monthly reporting of outstanding transactions by financial counterparties will become active from March 15, 2013.

Following the decision of the Italian Consob to temporarily prohibit the short selling of shares in Banco Popolare, Mediolanum, Banca Carige and Intesa, the FSA has decided to prohibit the short selling of these shares on UK trading venues as of February 27, 2013. The FSA has justified this decision as an attempt to prevent both disorderly falls in the prices of these shares and additional significant price falls in the wake of inconclusive election results in Italy.