Joan Quigley

WASHINGTON - Broker-dealer groups blasted a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to collect an annual $300-per-person fee from municipal advisors, saying the assessment would penalize dealers and dealer FAs who already bear the brunt of funding the board's operations.

WASHINGTON - With a nod to recent guidance from the tax-exempt community's accounting rulemaker, a bond attorneys' group has pulled contentious public pension-disclosure language from its most recent proposal, according to a draft of the group's pension-disclosure guidance circulated earlier this month.

WASHINGTON — Five states — California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — accounted for 40% of the continuing disclosures filed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board since July 2009, according to a report released Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Municipal advisors would have to determine whether transactions or products are suitable for conduit borrowers under a proposal the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Under a proposal filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board would require municipal advisors to determine that a transaction or product is "suitable" for state and local governments, including public pension funds.

WASHINGTON - Morgan Stanley is poised to pay $6.5 million to settle charges made in a series of antitrust lawsuits that municipal issuers have filed over alleged bid-rigging of muni bond-related investments, even though the issuers do not appear to have found evidence showing the firm engaged in bid-rigging.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board floated proposals Wednesday to ban false and misleading advertising by municipal advisors and require them to create written records of their advisory engagements.

WASHINGTON - Municipal issuers who do not comply with their continuing disclosure agreements should be penalized, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board told the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

Municipal issuers who do not comply with their continuing disclosure agreements should be penalized, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board told the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

WASHINGTON - If dealers take advantage of disruption in the financial markets to manipulate prices of municipal securities, they will be violating federal law, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned Monday.

If dealers take advantage of disruption in the financial markets to manipulate prices of municipal securities they will be violating federal law, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned Monday.

Proposed municipal advisor rules on political contributions and supervision will not become effective until the Securities and Exchange Commission finalizes registration rules and defines the term "municipal advisor" later this year, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Friday.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments may soon face a difficult choice in the ongoing fallout from state investigations of bid rigging in the municipal securities market: cash in now, or wait and collect potentially larger payments later from antitrust lawsuits seeking treble damages from banks and broker-dealers.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned financial advisers to state and local governments Wednesday that certain bank loans and financings may qualify as private placements of municipal securities, subjecting them to federal securities laws and MSRB rules that apply to broker-dealers.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned financial advisers to state and local governments Wednesday that engaging in certain bank loans and financings may qualify as private placement activities, subjecting them to federal securities laws and MSRB rules that apply to broker-dealers.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board asked the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday to approve interpretive guidance that would require underwriters to disclose potential conflicts of interests to state and local government borrowers.

WASHINGTON - Broker-dealers are objecting to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's proposal that they pay a quarterly fee, based on their municipal bond sales, to help fund the board that sets accounting standards for state and local governments.

WASHINGTON - At a meeting in Colorado Springs last week, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board voted to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission four final rules governing conduct by municipal advisers.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a wide-ranging staff report about the municipal securities market, including recommendations for legislative change, commissioner Elisse Walter said Friday.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Schapiro will not preside over a municipal securities hearing in Birmingham, Ala., Friday, citing personal reasons.