Jack Casey

Two dealer groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to disapprove the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed municipal advisor core conduct rule, despite an amendment that would provide an exception to the rule’s controversial principal transaction ban.

Bond Dealers of America plans to move its offices to K Street here on Dec. 7 to have more space in which to grow and to continue to enhance its lobbying efforts.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Monday announced seven members of an investor advisory group designed to give its board of directors additional expertise on investor protection issues.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla, who will soon decide whether the commonwealth will default on a debt service payment, and Pedro Pierluisi, the territory's representative in Congress, will headline a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday to address the commonwealth's fiscal and debt crisis, as well as possible fixes.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advocate to identify areas in the muni market that could hurt retail investors.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed rule changes to lengthen its board members' terms to four years from three has garnered general support from dealer and advisor groups as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Investor Advocate.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency freeze of the assets of an Atlanta-based businessman and filed a lawsuit charging him and his associates with fraud for misusing investor proceeds that were intended to be used to purchase and renovate senior living facilities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released its much-anticipated best execution guidance for dealers on Friday, providing answers to frequently asked questions about the rule as well as the exemption for sophisticated municipal market professionals.

Municipal market trading plummeted to $551 billion in the third quarter, the lowest level since at least 2005 when the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board began recording the statistics, according to the board.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has announced two winners of its annual Peter Fugiel Scholarship and acknowledged three honorable mentions.

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White on Wednesday declined to take a position on a bill that would increase hedge fund reporting in the wake of fund purchases of Puerto Rico’s debt, saying it has both pros and cons..

Puerto Rico's congressional representative Pedro Pierluisi strongly opposed the idea of the federal government imposing a federal fiscal control board on Puerto Rico, warning it would be "a blatant exercise of colonialism."

Puerto Rico said recently that there is no reason to believe that its debt is unconstitutional, but that this issue could arise in legal disputes if there is no “consensual restructuring” of the debt.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered R.M. Duncan Securities, its president and chief executive officer, and a broker to pay a combined $166,000 for selling defaulted municipal securities from their own accounts to seniors at unreasonably high prices and for not maintaining adequate supervisory procedures.

Puerto Rico needs to be put on life support and the way to do it is through bankruptcy, former Detroit bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes told The Bond Buyer in an interview.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Dec. 1 to explore Puerto Rico’s fiscal problems and the potential options that are available to help the island, panel chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Thursday

In a first-of-a-kind action, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released a compliance advisory for municipal advisors on Thursday to help them understand and implement new regulations.

Patrick Sweeney, Fidelity Capital Markets' senior vice president and manager of the municipal securities department, joined the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Thursday, replacing Edward Tishelman, who left TD Securities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing amendments to move the municipal securities industry to a T+2 settlement cycle instead of the current T+3 in the wake of continued calls from across the securities industry and support from regulatory officials.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing a limited exception to the controversial principal transaction ban in its proposed municipal advisor core conduct rule.