The CFTC SEF trading rules did not receive substantial support from either the buy side or the sell side. Whether or not one agrees with the specific recommendations made by Commissioner Giancarlo, it is difficult to see the logic of the CFTC's continuing defense of market structures and trading rules that few participants favor and that do not contribute to market stability in any way. Significant credit should go to the Commissioner for his persistence in compelling the CFTC to revisit…

The questions in Form PF that require firms to provide important financial information are poorly drafted - so much so that the results derived from answering these questions are useless. Notwithstanding the serious though not unsurprising conclusion of the OFR Report (i.e., that the "Form PF submissions may obscure reporting funds' actual risks"), the notion that the OFR had to conduct a scientific study to determine the "precision" (or the absence thereof) of the results of Form PF is at…

While criticism of the DOL's proposal by the sell-side (e.g., SIFMA) might have been discounted on the basis that the market sell-side was perhaps economically motivated to be opposed, it is harder to so discount such strong criticism from the ICI, many of whose members are in a position to benefit from a rule that is likely to discourage investors' use of brokers and to limit their range of investments. Likewise, the DOL's proposal has also been subject to significant criticism by other…

It is always good when Congress asks questions about the operations and effect of its legislation. It would be better, however, if Congress asked questions in advance of adopting legislation that could have a massive effect on the U.S. economy. Before Senator Warren and Representative Cummings ever voted to adopt Section 716, one hopes that they had some idea of the potential costs imposed by the legislation and its possible effect on the economy.

That said, it will be…