Jack Casey

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is asking for industry feedback on a proposal to make board members more effective by changing the length of their terms to four years instead of three.

Six advocacy groups are urging two key Senate Republicans to keep Congress from providing Puerto Rico with access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee is urging the committee chair to hold a hearing to “cast a spotlight” on the “gross inequity” hedge funds holding Puerto Rico debt are imposing on the commonwealth’s citizens.

The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered 22 municipal securities underwriting firms to pay $4.12 million in civil penalties in the second round of what some lawyers said on Wednesday will be three total rounds of underwriter settlements under the commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative.

Key Senate Republicans made clear during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday that they do not intend to move forward with bills providing Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection for Puerto Rico’s authorities and instead want more information on the territory’s struggling finances and $71 billion of debt as well as how to fix them.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez wants to extend protections under the Investment Company Act of 1940 to Puerto Rico, saying their absence caused Puerto Ricans to suffer losses when they invested in mutual funds heavily stocked with the financially struggling commonwealth’s bonds.

Dealers acting as principals would have to disclose markups and markdowns in transactions with retail customers under rule changes proposed by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has announced four invited speakers who bring varying views on the merits of Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in Puerto Rico for Tuesday’s House Finance Committee hearing on the commonwealth’s fiscal health in light of its $71 billion in debt.

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Sept. 29 to discuss the “dire financial situation” in Puerto Rico, committee chair Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Tuesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s five members unanimously agreed on Tuesday to propose a rule and amendments that would require open-end mutual funds and exchange traded funds to take steps to manage liquidity risks so they could handle redemptions during periods of financial stress.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is calling for increased education of issuers on continuing disclosure in the wake of lessons learned from the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s pending fee changes will be unfair and excessively burdensome, dealer and advisor groups told the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The total amount of outstanding municipal securities in the market rose 0.55% to $3.71 trillion in the second quarter of this year, while U.S. bank holdings followed suit rising to $477 billion, a 2.5% increase from the first quarter’s $465 billion.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released the final version of its set of best practices for state government general obligation bond disclosure, the first part of an ongoing update to a set of recommended best practices from 2001.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has shelved its controversial proposal to ease independence standards to obtain a public investor on its board and will instead establish an investor advisory group.

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to its money market fund rule that would remove credit ratings references funds use to comply with the rule -- an action many market participants applauded but others said could pose risks..

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White said she will work to make regulatory and other changes to support shortening the settlement cycle for several types of secondary market transactions from three days after a trade date to two days by 2017.

Securities and Exchange Commission top cop Andrew Ceresney and a Justice Department official warned legislators on Wednesday that a bill to update the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 could hurt their enforcement programs.

Dealer groups oppose a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to provide academics with muni trade and pricing data with anonymous dealer identifiers while researchers contend the new data will add to market transparency.

Eight Hispanic lawmakers called on the Department of Treasury Monday to take a more active role in helping Puerto Rico with its worsening fiscal situation by engaging Congress over pending Chapter 9 bankruptcy legislation.