On December 13, 2012, efforts to pass S. 3637 – which would have extended the Transaction Account Guarantee ("TAG") program through the end of 2014 – failed in the Senate. The TAG program, established during the height of the financial crisis, will afford unlimited Federal deposit insurance coverage to non-interest transaction accounts, through December 31, 2012. As a result of the expiration of the TAG program, the insurance coverage amount for such deposits will revert to the standard maximum deposit insurance amount of $250,000, effective January 1, 2013, as originally scheduled.

On December 18, 2012, the CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight ("DSIO") issued time-limited no-action relief concerning the inclusion of certain swaps in a market participant's swap dealer de minimis calculation. Specifically, No-Action Letter 12-57 provides that a market participant may exclude from its calculation of the gross notional amount of swaps connected with its dealing activity any swap executed on NGX prior to the earlier of (1) March 31, 2013, or (2) the grant or denial of NGX's application as a Foreign Board of Trade ("FBOT"). The no-action relief is needed

The SEC Division of Trading and Markets provided no-action relief to the Financial Information Forum's Regulation E Working Group, which requested assurance that the staff will not recommend enforcement action to the SEC under Regulation E if a broker-dealer provides to consumers disclosures of fees, currency exchange rates and taxes in the same way that an "insured institution" is permitted to do under Sections 1005.32(a) and 1005.32(c) of Regulation E. The amendments to Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, are designed to provide new protections to consumers who

On August 28, 2012, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB") filed with the SEC proposed rules to adopt PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 16, "Communications with Audit Committees," and related and transitional amendments to PCAOB standards. The standard requires certain communications with the audit committee to occur before the issuance of the audit report. This order approves Auditing Standard 16. Click here to view order in full (links externally to SEC website).

The MSRB is requesting broad industry and public input on its regulation of the municipal securities market as it engages in a comprehensive review to ensure that its rules reflect current market practices. Comments should be submitted no later than February 19, 2013. Lofchie Comment: As we have previously noted, new SEC Chairman Walter has a particular interest in the regulation of the municipal securities markets. Accordingly, we would expect that there will be significant developments in this area at both the MSRB and the SEC; in addition, the new Chairman will likely advocate for