[ by Howard Haykin ] The SEC is amending interim final temporary Rule 15b12-1T under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") to extend the date on which the rule will expire, from 7/16/12 to 7/16/13. The SEC welcomes any comments on its decision to extend the rule;  comment period ends 10/31/12. Rule Provisions. Dodd-Frank amended the Commodity Exchange Act ("CEA") to provide that a person for which there is a Federal regulatory agency, broker-dealer registered under section 15(b) (except pursuant to paragraph (11) thereof) or 15C of the Exchange Act, shall not enter into, or offer to enter into, a forex transaction with a person who is not an "eligible contract participant" ("ECP") except pursuant to a rule or regulation of a Federal regulatory agency allowing the transaction under such terms and conditions as the Federal regulatory agency shall prescribe ("retail forex rule"). A Federal regulatory agency’s retail forex rule must treat all forex agreements, contracts, and transactions and their functional or economic equivalents, similarly.  Any retail forex rule also must prescribe appropriate requirements with respect to disclosure, recordkeeping, capital and margin, reporting, business conduct, and documentation, and may include such other standards or requirements as the Federal regulatory agency determines to be necessary. The prohibition in CEA section 2(c)(2)(B) took effect on July 16, 2011. Beginning on that date, broker-dealers, including broker-dealers also registered with the CFTC as futures commission merchants ("BD-FCMs"), for which the SEC is the "Federal regulatory agency," were no longer able to engage in off-exchange retail forex futures and options transactions with a customer except pursuant to a retail forex rule issued by the Commission. On 7/13/11, the SEC adopted interim final temporary Rule 15b12-1T, which temporarily permits a broker-dealer to engage in a "retail forex business," insofar as they are applicable to retail forex transactions. For further details, go to:  [SEC Interim Final Temporary Rule 15b12-1T, 8/10/12].