Chair White recognizes that the SEC imposes requirements that go beyond disclosure and makes a fair point that the SEC needs more tools. That said, it is important to question both the work that the SEC has done with the tools that it has, and who actually benefits from use of these tools. As to , these proposals have been sharply criticized by the Investment Company Institute as increasing risk for investors. As to the rules regarding resource extraction, it would be hard to…

Isn't issuing so many temporary extensions a lot of work? Why not just issue an extension of indefinite length and specify that the CFTC may withdraw the relief after a given number of months' prior notice?

For large broker-dealers that may be "covered broker-dealers" and so would be subject to orderly liquidation, the key question is this: whether any aspect of the proposed process could make them appear unattractive as parties to Qualified Financial Contracts, or raise the cost for them of entering into such contracts.

This case highlights the need for firms to anticipate conflicts of interest that may arise from research analysts' relationships with the management of companies they research. These relationships may serve a legitimate research function, but they also introduce the possibility, as here, that an analyst will avoid downgrading a company in order to maintain a good relationship with its management. This is especially true when an analyst's compensation is based (at least in part) on the access…