The CFTC staff hosted a public roundtable on January 31 to discuss the "futurization" of the swaps market. The roundtable consisted of four panels, which discussed the following topics: General industry views and concerns regarding the conversion of swaps to futures in each asset class; Clearing and different margin requirements for swaps and futures; Transaction-related matters including appropriate block rules for swaps and futures; and The effect of the conversion of swaps to futures on end-users. In his opening statement, Chairman Gary Gensler stated it was "critical that we [the CFTC]

The SEC announced the panelists who will participate in its roundtable next week on decimalization. The February 5 roundtable, which will evaluate the impact of tick sizes on the securities markets, will consist of three panels. Agenda and Panelists 9:30 a.m. Introduction 9:45 a.m. Panel 1: Evaluating Concerns Relating to Tick Size for Small and Middle Capitalization Companies Brian B. Conroy - President at Fidelity Capital Markets R. Cromwell Coulson - President, CEO, and Director at OTC Markets Group Joshua L. Green - General Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures Scott Kupor - Managing Partner

The NFA announced that it has taken an emergency enforcement action against Prodigy Asset Management LLC ("PAM"), a CPO and CTA located in New York City, and its principal, Ezekiel Abdel Rahman ("Rahman"). The NFA has taken the Member Responsibility Action ("MRA") and Associate Responsibility Action ("ARA"). The complete text of the MRA/ARA is available here. Click here to learn more (links externally to NFA website).

The MSRB has announced that, on February 25, 2013, it will make effective the previously deferred changes to MSRB transaction reporting requirements that would require brokers, dealers and municipal securities dealers to report for inter-dealer transactions the contractual dollar price at which the transactions were executed. All dealers that report inter-dealer transactions to the MSRB Real-Time Transaction Reporting System ("RTRS") must prepare for this change. Click here to view MSRB Regulatory Notice 2013-03 in full (links externally to MSRB website).

As part of the process of developing a new, consolidated rulebook, FINRA announced that it is requesting comment on proposed FINRA rules governing markups, markdowns, commissions and fees. FINRA initially sought comment on the proposed rules in Regulatory Notice 11-08. In response to the comments received, FINRA is proposing several changes to the proposed rules. These changes include, among other things, amendments to: (1) retain the 5% markup policy in NASD IM-2440-1 (Mark-Up Policy); (2) revise certain of the relevant factors used to determine the reasonableness of markups and commissions;