WASHINGTON – Three muni regulators and enforcement agencies are opening registration for a free compliance outreach program for municipal advisors that they plan to hold in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Feb 3, 2016.
The program will be webcast live by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Joint sponsors of the forum are the SEC's office of municipal securities and office of compliance inspections and examinations, as well as the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The MSRB writes muni rules, with input and approval from the SEC. MAs must be registered with both the MSRB and SEC. FINRA examines dealer-MAs and the SEC examines non-dealer MAs, and they both enforce MSRB rules. The SEC also enforces federal securities laws.
The program will allow MAs to hold discussions with SEC, MSRB and FINRA staff, as well as their peers, about recent exam findings, regulatory concerns, and industry compliance practices, according to notices released by the commission and board.
"This year's outreach program is designed to promote compliance with municipal advisor rules by providing municipal advisor professionals the opportunity to interact with all three regulators and to discuss regulatory and compliance issues with their industry peers," said Jessica Kane, director of the SEC's office of municipal securities.
"The municipal advisor outreach will be extremely informative and educational for new municipal advisors as they build their compliance programs," said Kevin Goodman, national associate director of the SEC's broker-dealer and municipal advisor examination programs. "This outreach, following the first ever in 2014, illustrates our continued commitment to foster an open dialogue among municipal advisors and regulators regarding regulatory obligations and expectations."
The program will be held from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm EST at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, located at Ten Independence Mall (zip code 19106). Registration is open to all muni advisor professionals. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the SEC.
