Jack Casey

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposal to ease the independence standard for its public investor slot is “deeply flawed” and “would undermine the very purpose” of Dodd-Frank Act provisions, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advocate.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is expected to release an investor alert Monday to educate bondholders on liquidity issues that can arise during times of market stress.

Two senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission the ability to levy higher civil monetary penalties against firms and individuals for securities law violations.

The House Judiciary Committee is unlikely to pass legislation that would give Puerto Rican public municipalities and utilities the ability to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, committee chair Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a Wednesday statement.

Pressure is mounting for Congress to make Puerto Rico's public entities eligible for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in the wake of an appeals court decision that found the territory's restructuring law illegal, and calls from top presidential candidates for congressional action.

Amid talks of Puerto Rico’s looming debt crisis, two senators plan to introduce companion legislation to a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to grant Chapter 9 bankruptcy powers to troubled public entities on the economically distressed island.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is giving 529 college savings plan underwriters a 60-day extension on the first date data submissions are due under a recently adopted rule.

The White House reiterated that the federal government won't offer bailout support to Puerto Rico after Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said the island's debt is not payable and that a debt restructuring is necessary,

As the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board continues to gather information on bond ballot contributions and weigh its regulations on the topic, concerns about possible pay-to-play issues from the contributions are already finding their way into the public eye.

Total net tax-supported debt fell for the first time in 28 years in 2014, a Moody’s report found.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution against limiting tax-exempt bonds

Covenant violations on lines of credit and poor operations caused Howard University's bond rating to fall with the possibility of the rating declining more if the university cannot fix operations that have been running a deficit in recent years.

The Government Finance Officers Association is calling for changes in the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's core conduct rule for municipal advisors to reduce the costs and burdens for issuers.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Wells Fargo Securities $12,500 for trade reporting violations and barred an individual from the securities industry for allowing the fraudulent transfer of $160,000 from a customer to an unrelated third party.