The SEC Division of Trading and Markets released the attached no-action letter in response to FINRA's request to treat certain foreign equity securities as having a "ready market" under Rule 15c3-1(c)(ll)(i). According to FINRA, this would expand the number of foreign securities eligible as foreign margin stock under Regulation T. The Division has stated that it will not recommend enforcement if the following conditions are met: "The security is listed for trading on a foreign securities exchange located within a country that is recognized on the FTSE World Index, where the security has been

FINRA will waive TRACE late trade reporting fees if a firm in an area affected by Hurricane Sandy was late in reporting certain transactions in TRACE-eligible securities late. View Notice in full here (links externally to FINRA website). See also: Press Release.

In a speech at the "AICPA/SIFMA FMS Conference On The Securities Industry," CFTC Commissioner Scott O'Malia discussed the post-Dodd-Frank derivatives landscape within the context of the (i) transaction rules, (ii) capital and margin rules, and (iii) Congress's legislative review role for the coming year.

FINRA announced that it is filing with the SEC a proposed rule change to amend FINRA Rule 7730 to establish certain optional Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine ("TRACE") data delivery services and fees in connection with such optional services. Click here to view text of the proposed rule change (links externally to FINRA website).

The CFTC obtained a federal court order requiring a registered FCM to pay a civil monetary penalty for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations concerning the segregation of customer funds, and for supervision failures. The complaint charged that, in violation of CFTC regulations, the account in which customer assets were maintained was not subject to a legal obligation to make customer funds available for redemption by the next business day following a request, and was not properly titled as a "customer segregated funds" account. The complaint also charged that the FCM failed