FIA Comment Letter RIN 3038-AC98 April 7, 2011 The FIA submitted a comment letter to the CFTC on April 7 in response to the agency's notice of proposed rulemaking establishing risk management requirements for derivatives clearing organizations. The FIA said it believes the CFTC has properly identified many of the responsibilities that DCOs and clearing members must undertake in order to manage the risks of clearing swaps but urged the CFTC to rely on guidance rather than prescriptive rules. The FIA also asked the CFTC to revise a number of specific requirements in the proposed rules. The FIA

CFTC Joint SEC-CFTC Study CFTC PR 6017-11 April 8, 2011 Joint Study on the Feasibility of Mandating Algorithmic Descriptions for Derivatives April 8, 2011 The CFTC and SEC have delivered to Congress a joint staff study on "the feasibility of requiring the derivatives industry to adopt standardized computer-readable algorithmic descriptions that may be used to describe complex and standardized financial derivatives" The joint study concludes that current technology is capable of representing derivatives using a common set of computer-readable descriptions. These descriptions are precise enough

U.S. Congress April 6, 2011 Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Representatives Frank Lucas (R-OK) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Chairman Ben Bernanke, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, and CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler advising regulators to provide an exemption from margin requirements for end-user derivatives transactions. The letter states: "Regulators should exempt end-users from margin requirements and seek to limit other regulatory burdens that could have the unintended

SEC Release No. 34-64251 April 7, 2011 The SEC amended Exchange Act Rule 19b-4(a) to clarify that the term "business day," as used thereunder, refers to days on which the SEC is open for regular business. Cross References Exchange Act Rule 19b-4 Exchange Act § 19(b)

FINRA News Release April 7, 2011 FINRA announced that it sanctioned two firms and seven individuals for selling interests in private placements without conducting a reasonable investigation. The FINRA actions allege that the firms failed to conduct proper due diligence on the offerings to ensure that they were suitable for their customers, and that they failed to enforce a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with securities laws and regulations. Cross References NASD Rule 2110 (n/k/a FINRA Rule 2010) NASD Rule 3010