Over a decade ago, at the request of our clients, Bloomberg created its Fixed Income Trading (FIT) platform to connect our buy and sell side subscribers to provide openness and standardization in the fixed income market and to create more transparency. Bloomberg is dedicated to providing the solutions our clients have come to expect so that they can operate more effectively and efficiently in today’s dynamic marketplace. We look forward to continuing to serve our buy and sell side clients by registering as a SEF.

(Watch this video to hear more about our business and intended SEF offering from CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia and Bloomberg Head of Product Ben Macdonald.)

Greg Babyak, Head of Government Affairs, Bloomberg L.P.

A Bloomberg client recently raised a concern that Bloomberg News reporters had access to limited customer relationship management data through their use of the Bloomberg Terminal. Although we have long made limited customer relationship data available to our journalists, we realize this was a mistake.

Having recognized this mistake, we took immediate action. Last month we changed our policy so that all reporters only have access to the same customer relationship data available to our clients. Additionally, we decided to further centralize our data security efforts by appointing one of our most senior executives to the new position of Client Data Compliance Officer. This executive is responsible for reviewing and, if necessary, enhancing protocols which among other things will continue to ensure that our news operations never have access to confidential customer data.

To be clear, the limited customer relationship data previously available to our reporters never included access to our trading, portfolio, monitor, blotter or other related systems or our clients’ messages. Moreover, reporters could not see news stories that clients read, or the securities they viewed. Bloomberg has very strict data security policies in place, in addition to significant and rigorous training, processes and protocols. Upon hiring, all Bloomberg employees enter into confidentiality provisions, including Bloomberg News.

Client trust is our highest priority and the cornerstone of our business, and we are deeply committed to ensuring the complete integrity and confidentiality of our clients’ data in all situations and at all times.

– Daniel L. Doctoroff, CEO and President, Bloomberg L.P.

BTV’s Peter Cook talks with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski who defended his decision to block the AT&T merger with T-Mobile

Another successful Bloomberg Washington Summit is in the books. We covered a lot of ground – everything from Fed policy and the deficit to net neutrality and Eddie Murphy movies. If you missed the day-long discussion and our all-star line-up of speakers, the good news is C-SPAN documented the whole thing (c-spanvideo.org/event/218019video.org/event/218019). Let me share a few highlights from my vantage point as emcee.

Former Fed Governor Larry Meyer told us that current Fed Vice Chairman Janet Yellen has the “right of first refusal” to become the leader of the central bank when Ben Bernanke steps down. Economist Adam Posen didn’t agree. The former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee said Yellen had the qualifications but lacked the “personal relationship” with the President needed to land the Chairmanship. His alternative? Former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner who has said he doesn’t want the job.

In a panel on investor confidence, SkyBridge Capital co-managing partner Anthony Scaramucci described a “paralysis in the American business community” right now. He also declined an invitation to run for Congress. On the same panel, former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt gave the Dodd-Frank law a “F” grade.

Just minutes later, the current CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler painted a very different picture of Dodd-Frank. He said the new derivative rules his agency has implemented mark a “paradigm shift” that will benefit markets and the economy. At the same time, he made a plea to Congress to fully fund his agency. The CFTC’s current budget is $205 million. He’s asking for $315 million so his employees can enforce the new rules now on the books.*

Looking back at his four years on office, outgoing FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski defended his decision to block the AT&T merger with T-Mobile. “Absolutely the right call,” he told me in one of his last interviews as Chairman. He said the decision resulted in greater competition. Genachowski also predicted that the “net neutrality” rules he put in place will survive legal challenge.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell faces his own challenges with sequestration and shrinking federal dollars. The Republican talked about that with Bloomberg Washington Executive Editor Susan Goldberg. Susan also questioned the Governor about a Washington Post report that the FBI is investigating McDonnell’s relationship with a major campaign donor. McDonnell said he never provided “special treatment” to Star Scientific or its CEO Jonnie Williams. The Post reported Williams paid the $15,000 catering bill for the 2011 wedding of McDonnell’s daughter.

The day ended with a lot of agreement on the need for corporate tax reform. Aerospace Industries Association CEO Marion Blakey, Marsh & McLennan CEO Daniel Glaser Peebles Corp. CEO Don Peebles all predicted that there is a better than 50-50 chance of a tax overhaul this year. American Action Forum CEO Doug Holtz-Eakin was the lone pessimist. He put the odds below 50-50. It was Peebles who had the Eddie Murphy reference. He pulled a line from 1992′s “The Distinguished Gentleman”.

Thanks to all who made it happen and all the good questions. We’ll see you next year.

-Peter Cook, Chief Washington Correspondent, Bloomberg Television

*Bloomberg has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to prevent the CFTC from implementing regulation relating to the clearing of swaps. For more information, go here: http://blog.bloomberg.com/2013-05-02/bloomberg-legal-team-seeks-an-injunction-relating-to-the-cftc-swaps-margin-rule/.

Scalia and Cuomo issued the following statement:

For more information on Bloomberg’s suit, read Bloomberg CEO and President Dan Doctoroff’s piece in the Huffington Post.

Everyone knows what data is, but let me take a moment to explain technical analysis and why traders and analysts value it. Technical analysis is about identifying patterns in financial markets. It is a systematic way of studying the past by analyzing an instrument’s price and volume history in order to infer future moves.

The best way to analyze how something has traded in the past and make inferences on how it will trade in the future is to combine visual representations with statistical and quantitative analysis.  This is where Bloomberg comes in. For those of you who use the Bloomberg Professional service, you know that anything that has been traded can be charted and analyzed.

Bloomberg has been improving its technical analysis capabilities steadily over the past few years and now includes functionality including quantitative historical testing, intraday alerts (so you don’t have to wait until market close for technical study results), and the ability to import charts from Bloomberg and manipulate them in Microsoft Office. Also, we let you do this not just at the individual stock level but also at the global index level where you can analyze more than 70 specific components to get a sense of how the market in performing.

The idea of technical analysis may be new to some and commonplace to others, but we feel it is important to continue to innovate so that we can provide the very best solutions for those who use it.

Eugene Sorenson, Global Product Manager for Data Visualization, Bloomberg

After asking employees what they wanted this year’s Earth Day theme to be, the sustainability team has focused their efforts around extremes–extreme weather, extreme living conditions, extreme environments, and extreme wildlife–plunging into the farthest and darkest corners of the earth to bring forth people, plants, and animals surviving and even thriving in extreme conditions.

Building on successful years past, the team designed a week-long plan to educate, raise awareness, and increase employee engagement. In addition to Earth Day activities hosted in New York and London, offices around the world are holding regional activities. Employees are participating in volunteer activities, hearing from speakers on the extreme theme and competing against colleagues in a scavenger hunt through Bloomberg News archives.

Additionally, the New York office featured an interactive art installation last week by Manuel Mansylla who brings environmental issues to life through multi-sensory exhibits. A large-scale installation on the main floor immersed employees and guests in extreme experiences through the use of wall-size screens, sounds, smells, and even temperatures.

To learn more about Bloomberg’s sustainability program visit: www.bloomberg.com/bsustainable.

Lee Ballin is with Bloomberg’s sustainability team

Kelvin shares his experience below in an edited blog post:

What happened on Monday is not something you mentally prepare for.

The first blast occurred less than a minute after I had photographed a Tufts runner crossing the finish. There was some confusion as to what had happened. I thought it was a cannon, much like we hear every Fourth of July at the Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade. No one seemed quite sure what had happened.

Then the second blast went off, farther down Boylston Street. Pandemonium erupted as spectators knocked over the crowd-control barriers and scattered.

I made a few pictures of the injured emerging from the smoke on wheelchairs. I couldn’t see much through the haze, so I ran up the photo bridge, suspended above the finish line, to get a better view.

At heart, I am a photojournalist, having worked for newspapers and wire services for the better part of the last 10 years. We often ask ourselves how we would react in a tough situation, because invariably, we end up covering fires, shootings and other tragedies. This was different, though, and I had no idea what I would see from the top of the bridge.

Right away I knew it was bad. I saw people with horrendous injuries, one in particular that was difficult for me to look at, or photograph. The man, later identified as Jeff Bauman, had lost both legs below the knee and was being carted away on a wheelchair as the now well-known peace activist Carlos Arredondo sprinted beside him, applying tourniquets to both limbs.

The response from emergency personnel and bystanders was impressive, a description that even now seems meager, given what they did. Those who ran toward the blast scene, without giving thought to their own safety, easily outnumbered the victims, three to one.

Every single one of those people is my hero.

We were evacuated off the bridge shortly thereafter, at which point I texted my mom that I was OK and sent out a two-word Tweet—“I’m OK.”—for everyone else. I then contacted Bloomberg News, and the photo editor, Graham Morrison, encouraged me to find a place to sit down, regain my composure and transmit the images I had captured. I was running on pure adrenaline and had no idea what to do, but Morrison’s reassurance and counseling through all of the trauma and chaos helped me stay grounded in the situation.

After securing an internet connection in the Prudential Center, I pushed my photos to the wire. I sent more emails and made more social media posts to let people know I was OK, and then headed back toward the scene, making some more photos along the way.

The outpouring of support from the photojournalism community has been incredible, whether it be from people I’ve known for years to someone I just met on Monday. I can’t express enough how grateful I am to have such supportive brothers and sisters in my corner every step of the way.

I tracked down the last runner I photographed before the blast and gave her a hug. Down to a matter of seconds, it really was a miracle she was standing there unscathed. I have never been so happy to see someone I hadn’t met yet.

Around 9 p.m. Tuesday, I saw a familiar face on the New York Times website. Jeff Bauman, whose horrific injuries had kept me awake the night before, had survived and was stable in a local hospital. Learning that he had made it lifted the heavy cloud that had engulfed me. His recovery will no doubt be long and difficult, but he is still with us.

What struck me most about the horror of the situation was not the devastation and the chaos, but the fact that so many people ran toward the danger to help those in need without giving a second thought about themselves. That seems to be a recurring thread in everyone’s recollection of what happened, and it can’t be repeated enough.

As a member of the media, I will inevitably receive negative comments and criticism about the photos that I took, because some people disagree about what the public should and should not be able to see. I understand that. But as a professional witness, I don’t know how else to show not only the evil of the world, but also the compassion and humanity that ultimately overcomes it, like the actions of the first responders and volunteers who dove headfirst into the smoke to save so many lives on Monday.

Kelvin Ma, Photographer for the Bloomberg Photo Service

The regulation, which will go into effect June 10, 2013, requires far more upfront costs – five times the margin requirements – to trade a cleared financial swap than an identical cleared financial swap future. This will push investors of all types toward swap futures which have less regulatory requirements, less transparency, but pose much higher investor risk.

We did not come to the decision lightly. Bloomberg has worked along with market participants and our buy and sell-side clients since October 2012 to alert the CFTC to the consequences of their ruling. As well, the CFTC has failed to respond to our formal request – made by legal counsel Eugene Scalia – to change and stay the implementation of this rule, leaving us with no other option.

We are confident in the merits of our case, remain committed to Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and will continue to strongly advocate in favor of transparency and stability in the global financial markets.

Statements from our outside attorneys Eugene Scalia and Mario Cuomo can be found here.

To read Dan Doctoroff’s piece on the CFTC lawsuit please click here.

Below is an open letter from Dan Doctoroff, CEO & President of Bloomberg L.P., in response to Floyd Norris’ column of April 4, 2013 entitled “Finding a Rate That’s Fairer Than Libor.”

Only a few weeks ago we wrote about how the Apple iPad has revolutionized the way in which people interact with information – and that Bloomberg has been there from the beginning.

Today we are proud to officially unveil the next version of the Bloomberg Anywhere app for iPad.  We believe the redesigned app will take accessing financial information on a mobile platform to a new level of sophistication with its enhanced navigation and added features straight from the Bloomberg Professional service.

Our latest iPad app release is yet another example of Bloomberg’s drive for innovation as we provide subscribers with leading technology they can access wherever and whenever. Bloomberg has been providing mobile access to the most trusted source of data, news and analytics for more than 20 years and continues to deliver the mobility users require in a fast-moving, global market.

By having our “user experience” design team work directly with our customers to test the app’s design elements and capabilities, and listening to subscribers’ feedback, we have developed additions that focus on three specific areas:

1)  enhanced customization and navigation, so users can easily access relevant news and market information

2)  better offline capabilities, so they can read and access important information while in-flight

3)  and added features, including Instant Bloomberg, Bloomberg Industries and enhanced charting capabilities

The tight integration and collaboration between our R&D and design teams, as well as our customers is what makes us so excited about this latest release.

We have seen – over the past three years – the number of subscribers accessing our platform on a mobile device double and more than half access the platform via multiple devices.

Bloomberg Anywhere was created with this in mind – and as the computing habits of our subscribers (current and future) evolves, we will continue to evolve alongside them to deliver the information and services they need and expect – anywhere, anytime.

For Bloomberg Professional service subscribers who want to download the new app can do so for free at the App Store.

– John Waanders, Head of Bloomberg Anywhere Mobile