SEC Announces July 15 Meeting to Discuss Muni Proposals

The Securities and Exchange Commission will consider whether to propose additional amendments to its Rule 15c2-12 on disclosure on Wednesday, according to a "Sunshine Act" notice released late last night.

The five-member commission also will consider whether to release "interpretive guidance intended to assist municipal securities issuers" and broker-dealers in preventing securities fraud.

The one-page notice announcing the meeting did not provide any additional details, but sources have said for weeks that the proposals may include an update to the list 11 types of material continuing disclosure events.

Under 15c2-12, dealers cannot underwrite most muni securities unless issuers have agreed in writing to file annual financial and operating information and notices of material events with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The material events include rating changes, bond calls, and adverse tax opinions or events affecting the tax-exempt status of the bonds. But the list has not been updated since it was adopted in 1994.

However, when the rule was amended last year to make the MSRB the central repository for such disclosures, commission staff said that they planned to revisit it at a later date to see if further changes are needed.

For months, SEC officials, including chairman Mary Schapiro, have said they want muni disclosure to be more like corporate disclosure in terms of quality and timeliness. "It is time for those who buy municipal securities that are critical to state and local funding initiatives to have access to the same quality and quantity of information as those who buy corporate securities," Schapiro said in a speech this spring.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM BOND BUYER