Joan Quigley

WASHINGTON — An issuer group urged the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to adopt suitability standards preventing the sale of inappropriate financial products to state and local governments.

WASHINGTON — Certain muni transaction-related services should only be performed by municipal advisors, not by underwriters, an independent financial advisor group told the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

PHILADELPHIA — The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing procedures that it will use to conduct examinations of independent, non-dealer municipal advisors to see if they are complying with federal laws and rules pertaining to municipal securities, , an SEC official said Thursday.

PHILADELPHIA — The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing procedures that it will use to conduct examinations of independent, non-dealer municipal advisors to see if they are complying with federal laws and rules pertaining to municipal securities, , an SEC official said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Broker-dealers from midsize regional firms converged on Capitol Hill and the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday to vent frustration with regulatory delays and what they see as an uneven playing field for dealer financial advisors and independent FAs.

Broker-dealers are not obligated to conduct Internet searches about a particular municipal security before selling it to customers in the secondary market, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Wednesday.

Veteran Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an architect of the most sweeping financial reform legislation since the Depression and a muni bond investor, said he will retire from Congress next fall and use his remaining time in office to defend the new law against Republican counterattacks.

Veteran Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an architect of the most sweeping financial reform law since the Depression, will hold a press conference Monday to answer questions about his announcement he will retire from Congress when his term ends next year, his office said in a statement.

WASHINGTON - An industry group has asked regulators to disclose the factors they will use to determine which muni broker-dealers pose more risks and should undergo compliance examinations more often under a new proposed exam program.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims increased 2,000 to 393,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 19, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Initial jobless claims increased 2,000 to 393,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 19, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - An industry group urged a federal bankruptcy judge not to remove the court-appointed receiver for Jefferson County's sewer system, warning such a move would negatively impact revenue bond financing for infrastructure projects nationwide.

WASHINGTON — Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 388,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 12, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 to 388,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 12, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON - A dealer group blasted recent criticism of underwriters Wednesday, saying it is unaware of broker-dealers urging municipal issuers not to engage financial advisors, or only to work with dealer-FAs.

WASHINGTON - In the first decision of its kind stemming from class action litigation over the collapse of the auction-rate securities market, a federal appeals court panel in New York ruled Monday that Merrill Lynch & Co. had adequately disclosed to customers that it was preventing auctions from failing.

WASHINGTON - Starting Monday, two of the three major rating agencies will post muni bond ratings for free on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA web site, the MSRB said Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has referred unregistered municipal advisors to the Securities and Exchange Commission for investigation and possible enforcement action, the board said Thursday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed a revised definition of "sophisticated municipal market professional" Tuesday that, for the first time, would include individuals with total assets of at least $50 million.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a proposal to revamp the money-market fund industry "in very short order," chairman Mary Schapiro said Monday.