Articles in October 2013

Gary DeWaal’s Bridging the Week: September 30 to October 4, and October 7, 2013 (Compliance Officers, SEFs and AIF Reporting)

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Bridging the Week, Valuable Lessons Learned | Print

In a week punctuated by the beginning of trading on Swap Execution Facilities and the simultaneous shut down of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, other important developments occurred internationally and in the US relevant to all financial service participants. These matters included:

1. Compliance officers are in the cross hairs once again of the UK FCA and the US SEC: UK Compliance Officer sued by the FCA, while the SEC issued a Frequency Asked Questions regarding the potential liability of legal and compliance officers for business persons under a failure to supervise theory (with Valuable Lessons Learned);
2. ADM Investor Services, Inc. was fined by the CFTC for segregation violations (with Valuable Lessons Learned);
3. CFTC issued FAQs related to commodity options;
4. CFTC issued No-Action relief related to SEFs just prior to closing its doors, including to an Australian (but not European) multilateral trading facility offering swaps to US persons;
5. ESMA finalized alternative investment funds’ reporting requirements;
6. EUREX scheduled implementation of its Excessive System Usage Fee and Order to Trade Ratio to discourage High Frequency Trading; and additional articles too.

Today There Are SEFs: The Final Piece in a Pablo Picasso Abstract Rendition of Effective Swaps Regulation?

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My View | Print

Today the world of Swap Execution Facilities has arrived, and the last material piece of Title VII is now in place amidst the complex mosaic of derivatives reform that began in the United States with the passage of Dodd Frank in 2010. In the words of CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, “a paradigm shift” has occurred.

But when we step back and view the virtually completed mosaic of our new derivatives laws and regulations what do we have? Do we have a completed puzzle that matches the promised picture on the front of the box, or do we have something different, something that seems more like a Pablo Picasso abstract rendition?