The MSRB has moved its electronic library of political contribution disclosures made by municipal securities dealers to the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website to locate them alongside other municipal market disclosures and data. View Press Release in full here (links externally to MSRB website).

The Investment Company Institute, SIFMA and several other Trade Associations have written to the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and the Central Board of Direct Taxes of India ("CBDT") about current issues regarding India's taxation of cross-border trade and investment and the India-U.S. bilateral tax relationship. Essentially, the trade associations stated that Indian tax authorities and Indian Revenue authorities’ rapidly evolving policy views on transfer pricing, permanent establishments and other issues, and the assertion of such views in current disputes, are "impeding the proper

Attached is an Energy Metro Desk article describing the views of CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton with respect to the market influence of high-speed traders and the need to change (make tougher) the CEA's standard on manipulation. Click here to view the article in full. The attached is an excerpt from the most recent issue of Energy Metro Desk, which is published bi-weekly by Scudder Publishing Group, an energy trade news publishing company based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Those interested in learning more about the Energy Metro Desk may do so by linking to www.energymetro.com or

SEC Director of the Office of International Affairs Ethiopis Tafara elaborates on his views regarding "Growth, Stability and Sustainability" in the United States' post-recession environment. Tafara asserts that problems in the capital markets can be alleviated by restoring investor confidence in the integrity of the system. This, in Tafara's opinion, would be accomplished through regulators focusing more on conflicts of interest and informational asymmetry problems rather than by adopting banking supervisory approaches, which he argues focuses on the limting of risk. Mr. Tafara argues that the

CFTC staff met with representatives of British Petroleum to discuss the firm's calculations around the $8 billion de minimis exemption from swap dealer registration. Lofchie Comment: Numerous firms are struggling to do these calculations given the uncertainty of both (i) what is a "swap" and (ii) what activities constitute "dealing." Of course, this is to say nothing of the still open question as to who is a "U.S. person." Click here to see more details on the meeting.