July 12, 2019 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Labor Relations Authority (Authority) solicits written comments on a request from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a general statement of policy or guidance. OPM asks the Authority to issue a general statement of policy or guidance holding that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31 (2018) requires the Authority to reevaluate its precedent on the revocation of federal employees' union-dues assignments. Comments are solicited on whether the Authority should issue a general statement of policy or guidance, and, if so, what the Authority's policy or guidance should be.

NMFS is proposing to adjust regulatory measures put in place to manage bluefin tuna bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery for Atlantic highly migratory species (HMS), specifically addressing the Northeastern United States Closed Area, the Cape Hatteras Gear Restricted Area, and the Spring Gulf of Mexico Gear Restricted Area as well as the weak hook requirement in the Gulf of Mexico. Several of the proposed measures would have an evaluation period component to determine whether the current area-based management measure remains necessary to reduce and/or maintain low numbers of bluefin tuna discards and interactions in the pelagic longline fishery. Other proposed measures would eliminate the Cape Hatteras Gear Restricted Area and would adjust the requirement to use weak hooks from a year- round requirement to a seasonal (January-June) requirement. The proposed measures would affect the HMS pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

The FAA proposes to supersede Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2009-09-02, which applies to certain Bombardier, Inc., Model DHC-8-400 series airplanes. AD 2009-09-02 requires repetitive inspections for damage of certain main landing gear (MLG) forward stabilizer brace assemblies, repetitive inspections for cracking of both MLG forward stabilizer braces, liquid penetrant inspections for cracking, and corrective actions if necessary. Since the FAA issued AD 2009-09-02, the FAA has determined that the installation of an elbow restrictor is necessary to address the unsafe condition which would extend the repetitive inspection interval. This proposed AD would retain the existing actions and also require installation of an elbow restrictor. The FAA is proposing this AD to address the unsafe condition on these products.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the ``SEC'' or the ``Commission'') is publishing an interpretation of a section of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ``Advisers Act'' or the ``Act''), which excludes from the definition of ``investment adviser'' any broker or dealer that provides advisory services when such services are ``solely incidental'' to the conduct of the broker or dealer's business and when such incidental advisory services are provided for no special compensation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'') is adopting a new rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act''), establishing a standard of conduct for broker- dealers and natural persons who are associated persons of a broker- dealer (unless otherwise indicated, together referred to as ``broker- dealer'') when they make a recommendation to a retail customer of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities (``Regulation Best Interest''). Regulation Best Interest enhances the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond existing suitability obligations, and aligns the standard of conduct with retail customers' reasonable expectations by requiring broker-dealers, among other things, to: Act in the best interest of the retail customer at the time the recommendation is made, without placing the financial or other interest of the broker-dealer ahead of the interests of the retail customer; and address conflicts of interest by establishing, maintaining, and enforcing policies and procedures reasonably designed to identify and fully and fairly disclose material facts about conflicts of interest, and in instances where we have determined that disclosure is insufficient to reasonably address the conflict, to mitigate or, in certain instances, eliminate the conflict. The standard of conduct established by Regulation Best Interest cannot be satisfied through disclosure alone. The standard of conduct draws from key principles underlying fiduciary obligations, including those that apply to investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (``Advisers Act''). Importantly, regardless of whether a retail investor chooses a broker-dealer or an investment adviser (or both), the retail investor will be entitled to a recommendation (from a broker-dealer) or advice (from an investment adviser) that is in the best interest of the retail investor and that does not place the interests of the firm or the financial professional ahead of the interests of the retail investor.