The SEC charged a Houston man with insider trading based on confidential details that he gleaned from his wife, a partner at a large law firm that was consulted on the deal. Lofchie Comment : I am a sucker for human interest stories. Was he the kind of husband who used the money to buy himself golf clubs or his wife expensive jewelry? Click here to view Litigation Release in full (links externally to SEC website).

The CFTC announced an Order against The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and RBS Securities Japan Limited (collectively, "RBS") regarding its activities in LIBOR for Yen and Swiss Franc. See: CFTC Order: The Royal Bank of Scotland plc and RBS Securities Japan Limited and CFTC Press Release. See also: Chairman Gensler's Statementand Commissioner Chilton's Statement.

Professor Craig Pirrong ( " Back to Futurization: The Consequences of Swap-O-Phobia," Streetwise Professor," (Feb. 2, 2013)) analyzes from an economics perspective the trend involving the conversion of swaps into futures, a.k.a., the "futurization of swaps," that was the subject of a recent CFTC public roundtable and two past commentaries of ours published in the Cabinet. ( See Zwirb comment of Jan. 31, 2013 and Lofchie comment of September 4, 2012.) Pirrong states that the main driver for this trend is the different regulatory treatment of the two products, a differential that favors futures

SIFMA has submitted comments to the NYSE Euronext on various Global Data Agreements ("Agreements") and related documents. SIFMA requested that the exchange not finalize the Agreements until after SIFMA has met with senior officers of the exchange and agreed on resolutions of various concerns. SIFMA also asserted that the Agreements raise substantial issues at the heart of "the exchange's relationship with member firms and the exchange's role as a self-regulatory organization (SRO) and exclusive processor of market data that must be distributed on fair and reasonable terms and in the public

The MFA and AIMA jointly submitted a comment letter to the CFTC on itsFinal Exemptive Order Regarding Compliance with Certain Swap Regulations (78 FR 858). MFA and AIMA expressed continued concern with the "breadth of the definition and its application to non-U.S. funds." In particular, MFA and AIMA urged the CFTC to provide equal treatment of funds and corporate entities by modifying the proposed "U.S. person" definition to "eliminate the 'look-through' to all indirect investors, and apply only the tests in alternative prong (ii) to funds, specifically, the tests related to place of