Securities and Exchange Commission March 6, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'') and the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC,'' together with the CFTC, the ``Commissions'') are jointly issuing proposed rules and guidelines to implement new statutory provisions enacted by Title X of the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. These provisions amend section 615(e) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and direct the Commissions to prescribe rules requiring entities that are subject to the Commissions' jurisdiction to address identity theft in two ways. First, the proposed rules and guidelines would require financial institutions and creditors to develop and implement a written identity theft prevention program that is designed to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft in connection with certain existing accounts or the opening of new accounts. The Commissions also are proposing guidelines to assist entities in the formulation and maintenance of a program that would satisfy the requirements of the proposed rules. Second, the proposed rules would establish special requirements for any credit and debit card issuers that are subject to the Commissions' jurisdiction, to assess the validity of notifications of changes of address under certain circumstances.