SEC Chairman Elisse Walter named John Ramsay as Acting Director of the Division of Trading and Markets. He will replace Robert Cook, who announced that he plans to step down after a short transition period. Lofchie Comment: While it is a loss for the SEC to have Robert Cook leave government work to go back to the private sector, I think the SEC is doing well to be able to replace Robert with another attorney who has extensive and varied experience, not only at the SEC, but also at FINRA, at a sell-side institution, and in private practice. Given the pace of change in the financial sector, it

SEC Chairman Elisse Walter has named Lona Nallengara as Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance. Nallengara will replace Meredith B. Cross when she leaves the SEC at the end of the year. Click here to view press release in full (links externally to SEC website).

The Office of Fair Trading ("OFT"), the UK’s consumer protection and competition regulator, has approved the anticipated acquisition of the majority control in LCH.Clearnet Group by the London Stock Exchange Group plc on the basis that such a deal would not threaten any rivals through market dominance.

As a part of the review of the UK special administration regime for investment banks, industry opinion is being sought on the extent to which the current framework achieves its objectives and whether it should continue to have effect. The regime, created by the Banking Act 2009 in response to the administration of Lehman Brothers, was developed as a mechanism to ensure that the failure of investment firms could be resolved in an orderly manner as much as possible, in particular to protect client assets, creditor rights, markets and the UK financial services industry as a whole. Any responses

Following the publication of its consultation paper on strengthening LIBOR last month, in which it asked for public opinion on the discontinuation of certain LIBOR currencies and maturities, the British Banking Association has published its feedback on certain points raised by contributors. In particular, the BBA has announced a delay as to the effective date of the discontinuation of certain LIBOR-related measures.