On August 3, 2012, in Regulatory Notice 12-37, FINRA announced that amendments to FINRA Rule 6433 (Minimum Quotation Size Requirements for OTC Equity Securities), which simplifies the existing tier structure, facilitates the display of customer limit orders pursuant to FINRA Rule 6460 (Display of Customer Limit Orders), and expands the scope of the rule to encompass quotations displayed by non-market-makers, would become effective on November 5, 2012. Due to disruptions in normal business operations related to Hurricane Sandy, FINRA has changed the effective date of this amendment from

The Depository Trust Clearing Corporation (DTCC) reported that the physical stock certificates that it was holding were damaged by the recent storms and flooding. View notice in full here (links externally to DTCC website).

The CFTC complaint alleges that the firm (i) opened accounts for a number of improperly unregulated commodity pools and (ii) allowed an introducing broker to hold what was in effect on omnibus account for underlying accounts of the introducing broker, with the result that the introducing broker was really functioning as an unregistered futures commission merchant (IBs are not allowed to custody client assets). This is at least the second recent disciplinary action (see link to prior action below) in which an FCM has been sanctioned for allowing one of its customers to improperly aggregate

FINRA announced that the SEC has approved new FINRA Rule 5350 (Stop Orders), which replaces the stop order provisions of FINRA Rule 6140(h). The rule provides that any order labeled as a "stop order" or a "stop limit order" must be triggered based upon a transaction at the stop price, but permits firms to offer alternative order types with different triggers, so long as the order type is not labeled as a stop order and is clearly distinguishable from a stop order. The text of the rule can be found here. View FINRA Regulatory Notice 12-50 in full here(links externally to FINRA website).

The CFTC approved a final rule that amends numerous regulations, listed below, so that they now reference swaps and the collateral for swaps, as well as futures. Effective Date: January 2, 2013. Cross-Reference(s): Dodd-Frank Title VII; CFTC Regulations Parts 1 (General Regulations), 4 (CPOs and CTAs), 5 (Off-Exchange FX Transactions), 7 (Contract Market Rules Altered or Supplemented by the Commission), 8 (Exchange Procedures for Disciplinary, Summary, and Membership Denial Actions), 15 (Reports--General Provisions), 16 (Reports by Reporting Markets), 18 (Reports by Traders), 21 (Special Calls