Senators Merkley and Levin submitted a letter to the heads of the Federal Reserve Board, the Comptroller, the CFTC, the FDIC and the SEC requesting they end the delay in issuing a final version of the "Merkley-Levin Provisions" of Dodd-Frank which the letter says are "commonly referred to as the Volcker Rule." The Senators expressed frustration that, months after the deadline (July 21, 2012) by which the Merkley-Levin Provisions were to become effective, the lack of unanimous agreement among regulators with respect to the Merkley-Levin Provisions, which, according to the letter, is a result of

The SEC approved amendments to FINRA Rule 4210 (Margin Requirements) related to option spread strategies, maintenance margin requirements for non-margin eligible equity securities, "free-riding," "exempt accounts," and stress testing in portfolio margin accounts. The amendments related to option spread strategies became effective on October 26, 2012. All other amendments to FINRA Rule 4210 described in this Notice will become effective on January 23, 2013. The principal amendments are as follows: the margin requirements on certain option positions are more closely tied to maximum potential

The MSRB reminds brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers of the November 1, 2012, effective date of amendments to MSRB Rule G-34 concerning the use of the term "not reoffered," or "NRO," on communications about new issues of municipal securities. The amendments will prohibit any dealer from using the term "not reoffered" or other comparable term or designation, such as the commonly used designation of "NRO," without also including the applicable price or yield information about the securities in any of its written communications, electronic or otherwise, sent by or on behalf of the

On October 24, 2012, the Internal Revenue Service issued Announcement 2012-42, which (i) delays withholding on gross proceeds under the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" ("FATCA") provisions until 2017, (ii) extends the deadlines under FATCA for completing due diligence with respect to counterparties and financial account holders to conform to the deadlines set forth in the Model Intergovernmental Agreements released in August, and (iii) expands the grandfathering exemption for several instruments. In particular, under the Announcement, obligations that give rise only to foreign-source

The SEC charged an insurance company CEO with insider trading based on confidential information he obtained in advance of a private investment firm acquiring a stake in an oil and gas company. View complaint in full here (links externally to SEC website).