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Statement At Open Meeting On Cross-Border Security-Based Swap Rules Regarding Activity In The United States, SEC Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar, April 29, 2015

Date 29/04/2015

Thank you, Chair White.

And thanks to all of the staff who worked so hard to develop this thoughtful proposal.

The rulemaking before us today represents another key step in the Commission’s ongoing effort to implement Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, which gives the Commission regulatory oversight of the security-based swap market. Each time the Commission gathers to vote on a Title VII rulemaking, we highlight the complexity of the security-based swap market and the difficulty of crafting rules to effectively regulate its products and participants. This difficulty and complexity is nowhere more evident than in the subject matter of today’s rulemaking, the application of our rules to the personnel of non-U.S. persons located in the United States.

Statement On Proposed Rule On Pay Versus Performance, SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein, April 29, 2015

Date 29/04/2015

I want to begin by thanking the staff for all their hard work on this proposed rule.  I would particularly like to thank Eduardo Aleman, Felicia Kung and Jenny Riegel from the Division of Corporation Finance, and Tara Bhandari and Walter Hamscher from the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA). 

OTCGH'S EOXLIve Reaches 43% Of Natural Gas Options Market Volume

Date 29/04/2015

OTC Global Holdings (OTCGH), the leading independent commodities interdealer broker, announced today that on April 28, 2015 its EOXLive platform represented 43 percent of options volume on the NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas benchmark. The volume represented 26,725 contracts.

CFTC Swaps Report Update

Date 29/04/2015

CFTC's Weekly Swaps Report has been updated, and is now available.

CalPERS Again Earns 'AAA' Grade In Asset Owners Disclosure Project 2015 Climate Change Survey - Climate Index Ranks System In Top Five Of World's 500 Largest Asset Owners

Date 29/04/2015

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced that it has again earned a 'AAA' grade from the Asset Owners Disclosure Project (AODP), one of only 9 organizations to do so, ranking third on the organizations index of the world's 500 largest asset owners. CalPERS also ranked third on the 2013-14 index, at that time jumping 12 spots from number 15.

Statement On Proposed Rules For U.S. Personnel And Certain Activities Of Non-U.S. Person’s Security-Based Swaps Dealing, SEC Commissioner Kara M. Stein, April 29, 2015

Date 29/04/2015

During the financial crisis, the world witnessed how financial contracts known as swaps played a key role in creating a global financial hurricane.  These financial contracts tied together the destinies of seemingly unrelated financial firms.  The threat of a daisy chain of failures drove bailouts to companies no one dreamed would ever be risky.  What’s more, the crisis and bailouts flooded across international borders.  Indeed, over half of the largest recipients of the AIG bailouts were foreign organizations.

Semi - Annual Review Of Athex Index Series

Date 29/04/2015

The ATHEX Indices Advisory Committee approved the following changes in the composition of the FTSE/ATHEX Index Series, taking into consideration the results of the review for the period October 2014 - March 2015:

• ATHEX Composite Price Index

Four (4) additions, four (4) deletions and four (4) investability weight changes.

• ATHEX Composite Total Return Index

Four (4) additions, four (4) deletions and four (4) investability weight changes.

Statement Regarding Proposed Amendments And A Re-Proposed Rule Regarding Application Of Certain Title VII Requirements To Security-Based Swap Transactions, SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher, April 29, 2015

Date 29/04/2015

Thank you, Chair White.

When the Commission first proposed rules relating to the application of Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act to cross-border activity in 2013, I supported the proposal.  However, at that time, I expressed some reservations because, while I thought we were generally moving in the right direction, I was not convinced that we had gotten it exactly right.

Dissenting Statement At An Open Meeting Proposing Mandated Pay Versus Performance Disclosures, SEC Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher, April 29, 2015

Date 29/04/2015

Thank you, Chair White. And thank you to the staff from the Division of Corporation Finance who worked diligently on today’s proposing release, in particular Keith Higgins, Felicia Kung, and Eduardo Aleman. Thanks as well to staff from the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis and from the Office of the General Counsel.

Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement

Date 29/04/2015

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in March suggests that economic growth slowed during the winter months, in part reflecting transitory factors. The pace of job gains moderated, and the unemployment rate remained steady. A range of labor market indicators suggests that underutilization of labor resources was little changed. Growth in household spending declined; households' real incomes rose strongly, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices, and consumer sentiment remains high. Business fixed investment softened, the recovery in the housing sector remained slow, and exports declined. Inflation continued to run below the Committee's longer-run objective, partly reflecting earlier declines in energy prices and decreasing prices of non-energy imports. Market-based measures of inflation compensation remain low; survey-based measures of longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.