In this issue:

- SEC Committee to Focus on the Order Protection Rule at Upcoming Meeting

- CFTC Issues No-Action Relief to SEFs and DCMs in Connection with Swaps with Operational or Clerical Errors

- CFTC Issues No-Action Relief for SEF Confirmation and Recordkeeping Requirements and Confirmation Data Reporting Requirements

- CFTC Provides Guidance on Calculating Projected Operating Costs by SEFs

- ESMA Issues Call for Evidence on Virtual Currency

- Judge Declines to Dismiss Spoofing Charges Against High Frequency Trader

- SEC Grants Compliance Officer $1.4 to $1.6 Million Whistleblower Award

- DOL Proposes to Revise Definition of “Fiduciary” Under ERISA

- FCA Publishes New Procedures and Forms for Disclosure of Material Changes by Non-UK Managers Marketing in the United Kingdom

- European Council Approves Strengthened EU Anti-Money Laundering Rules

- ESMA Consults on Knowledge and Competence Requirements

- Excerpt from SEC Committee to Focus on the Order Protection Rule at Upcoming Meeting:

On April 17, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that its Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold its first meeting on May 13. The Committee, which was created earlier this year to formally solicit advice and recommendations related to equity market structure issues, will focus on Rule 611 of Regulation National Market System at the meeting. Among other things, Rule 611, known as the order protection rule, requires a trading center, which includes national securities exchanges, exchange specialists, alternative trading systems, over-the-counter market makers and block positioners, to establish, maintain and enforce written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to prevent trade-throughs—the execution of trades at prices that are inferior to displayed and immediately accessible quotations at other trading centers—or, if relying on one of the rule’s defined exceptions, that are reasonably designed to ensure compliance with such exception.