From a policy standpoint, the whistleblower law should encourage employees to report problems internally. This decision supports encouraging (or at least does not discourage) the internal reporting of problems.

While the potential authority of the CFTC to take possession of firms' algorithms has drawn most of the early attention, the burden of the compliance obligations that would be imposed by this proposal, and the subsequent risks of liability, should not be underestimated.

Will this proposed rule motivate banking organizations to maintain appropriate liquidity, as defined by the rule? (Does the rule define liquidity appropriately, or at least correctly from a relative (if not absolute) perspective, in a way that verifies that more liquid firms do better than less liquid firms?) Most significantly, does the rule precipitate a bank run if a bank shows somewhat decreased liquidity? Although the idea that transparency is good is the common wisdom,…

This release is over 500 pages, including all of the questions and discussions. Regarding the rule's fairly substantial requirements, CFTC Chair Massad said (at p. 501) that for "a firm that already uses risk management strategies, has various protections against malfunctions in place, and retains the services of talented attorneys, this new regulation will not create significant new burdens for that firm." Does anyone believe that a 500-page release will not…