The no-action request from ISDA, IIB and SIFMA to the CFTC requests grandfathering of swap positions by "Legacy Swap Affiliates" so that these entities would not be required to register as swap dealers even if they were unable to transfer or novate existing swap positions to registered swap dealers by the SD Effective Date. Since the novation or termination of legacy swaps away from "Legacy Swap Affiliates" cannot be done unilaterally (generally requiring counterparty consent), many Legacy Swap Affiliate positions will not expire or be novated and transferred to a registered swap dealer by the

The SEC has charged three health care company employees and four others in a New Jersey-based insider trading ring of various high school friends who traded in advance of 11 public announcements involving mergers, a drug approval application, and quarterly earnings of pharmaceutical companies and medical technology firms. The group generated $1.7 million in illegal profits and kickbacks. The SEC press release for the case is intended to send a message that the Commission has the ability to uncover conspiracies in which one person obtains the inside information and a seemingly unrelated person

Treasury announced that it has issued a final determination providing that a limited class of transactions related to foreign exchange is not within the definition of a swap and is therefore exempt from certain aspects of swap regulation. The effect of the exemption is quite limited in two major respects: (i) the transactions as to which the exemption applies; and (ii) the scope of requirements as to which the exemption serves as a carve-out. Types of Transactions. The exemption applies to two types of transactions: First, a transaction that solely involves an exchange of two different

The SEC is operating under a continuing resolution through March 27, 2013 and, accordingly, fees paid under Section 31 of the Exchange Act will remain at their current rate until 60 days after the enactment of a regular appropriation for the SEC. Click here to view notice in full (links externally to SEC website).

SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar delivered a speech on small business capital formation at a forum intended to provide an opportunity to discuss how the environment for small business capital formation can be improved, consistently with investor protection and other public policy goals. The forum also covered exempt securities offerings, crowd funding and other related topics. Commissioner Aguilar discussed the Commission's continuing interest in capital formation issues for small businesses, which Aguilar says are essential to sustain a strong economy. In particular, he asserted that good