SIFMA and the Financial Services Roundtable (FSR) submitted a letter to the CFTC requesting interpretive guidance to harmonize certain exemptions relating to CPOs and CTAs with proposed amendments implementing the JOBS Act. In short, the industry wants the CFTC to amend its rules so that private placements for purposes of the Securities Act as amended by the JOBS Act will also be treated as private placements for purposes of the CFTC Rules. (Without such relief, many hedge funds and institutional pools would effectively remain subject to the Pre-JOBS Act limitations on the conduct of

George Osborne (UK Chancellor of the Exchequer), Michel Barnier (European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services), Ikko Nakatsuka (Government of Japan Minister of State for Financial Services) and Pierre Moscovici (Government of France Minister of Finance) submitted a joint letter to CFTC Chairman Gensler expressing concern as to the CFTC's cross-border swaps rules. The gist of the letter is to the effect that the CFTC must recognize compliance by non-U.S. firms with non-U.S. rules as satisfying U.S. requirements. Lofchie Comment: This is an understated letter to the CFTC saying that

ICE is revising the block trade minimum quantities for certain Energy Contracts, in that they are being restored to one contract. View notice in full here (links externally to ICE website).

FINRA has expelled EKN Financial Services, Inc. of Melville, NY for numerous compliance violations and for allowing its CEO, Anthony Ottimo, to act as a supervisor despite the SEC Order that barred him from associating with any broker or dealer in a supervisory capacity. EKN, Ottimo and Giugliano also committed numerous AML violations, including failing to establish an adequate AML compliance program to detect and report suspicious activity. View Press Release in full here (links externally to FINRA website).

The CFTC will hold a public meeting on Thursday, October 25, 2012, at 1:00 p.m., to consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Enhancing Protections Afforded Customers and Customer Funds Held by Futures Commission Merchants and Derivatives Clearing Organizations. Click hereto learn more (links externally to CFTC website).