The Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") requested comment on a proposed rule to amend Regulation HH to set out the conditions and requirements for a FRB to open and maintain accounts for and provide financial services to financial market utilities designated as systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The proposed rule, which implements provisions of Section 806 of the Dodd-Frank Act, would also authorize a Reserve Bank to pay interest on the balances maintained by a designated financial market utility just as a Reserve Bank is able to pay interest to a bank. View

The CFTC is amending its Rules of Practice, Rules Relating to Reparation Proceedings, and its Rules Relating to Review of National Futures Association ("NFA") Decisions in Disciplinary, Membership Denial, Registration and Membership Responsibility Actions, largely with respect to various procedural issues. More significantly, the CFTC is also amending its Rules Relating to Reparations Proceedings to expand the authority of its Judgment Officers. Effective Date: February 26, 2013. Cross-Reference(s): CFTC Rules Parts 10 ("Rules of Practice"), 12 ("Rules Relating to Reparations"), and 171 (

CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton called for the systematic review of all major financial benchmarks during a statement he made before the International Roundtable on Financial Benchmarks on February 26, 2013. He expressed the need for a "governmental, quasi-governmental or not-for-profit" oversight of all the major marks used by the industry. He specifically referred to the LIBOR, energy swaps, gold and silver fixes in London, and the "whole litany of bors." He went on to say that "every single [bench]mark needs to be reviewed, and potentially investigated." View Statement in full here (links

The SEC announced that it will be holding a Credit Ratings Roundtable on May 14th in response to a recent staff report on credit ratings. The roundtable will be held at the Commission's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and will be open to the public and webcast live on the SEC website. Cross-Reference(s) : Dodd-Frank Title IX ("Investor Protections and Improvements to the Regulation of Securities"). See : SEC Press Release; Staff's Report on Assigned Credit Ratings. Additional News Item : SEC Report to Congress on Assigned Credit Ratings.

In a statement before the CFTC Roundtable on Financial Market Benchmarks, CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler asserted the importance of moving to a more robust framework for financial market benchmarks, especially those for short-term variable interest rates. Chairman Gensler further stated that LIBOR has been "readily and pervasively rigged," and thus may no longer be grounded in real transactions. As to the future of LIBOR, he questioned whether the published rates had any meaning, given what he said was the very limited volume of unsecured interbank financing. Chairman Gensler also discussed the