In a joint letter, the Canadian Bankers Association and the Investment Industry Association of Canada have requested the U.S. Treasury to grandfather swaps and other obligations issued prior to January 1, 2014 from FATCA withholding. Under current Treasury guidance, obligations issued on or after January 1, 2013 would not be grandfathered when FATCA withholding begins in 2014. The Canadians alternatively asked, that if Treasury was unwilling to provide an across-the-board extension of grandfathering, that such extension at least be available for obligations entered into under existing Master

The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity held a joint hearing entitled "Examining the Impact of the Proposed Rules to Implement Basel III Capital Standards". The Committee heard testimony from witnesses that included Michael Gibson, a Director of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation at the Federal Reserve; John Lyons, Chief National Bank Examiner at the OCC; and George French, Deputy Director of Policy of the Division of Risk Management Supervision at the FDIC. The written testimony

The SEC Division of Trading and Markets granted no-action relief to Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) under Section 19(g)(1)(C) of the Exchange Act under the following conditions: if OCC waives the applicability of certain of its By-Laws and Rules as well as permits Broadridge Securities Processing Solutions, LLC ("BSPS") to continue to act as a Managing Clearing Member while it transfers its activities to an affiliate. View letter in full here (links externally to SEC website).

The SEC has named Todd K. Scharf, Sr. as Chief Information Security Officer and Associate Director in the agency’s Office of Information Technology. “Todd’s knowledge of market operations, along with his leadership efforts to improve the SEC’s information security operations already have had a significant effect on the agency, and we’re pleased to welcome him to this new position,” said Thomas A. Bayer, the SEC’s Chief Information Officer. Recently, the SEC's own Office of Inspector General had issued a report severely criticizing the SEC for its internal breaches of information security

The CFPB issued a bulletin announcing that the Agency will propose certain limited adjustments to its rule on international money transfers, as well as a brief extension of the date the rule would become effective. According to the CFPB, the proposed changes are intended to address what should happen if a consumer provides an incorrect account number for a transfer, as well as how remittance providers must disclose certain third-party fees and foreign taxes. Click here to learn more about the proposed changes (links externally to CFPB website).