Jonathan Hemmerdinger

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission had no basis to approve the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's interpretative notice to Rule G-17, which spells out underwriters' fair dealing obligations to state and local municipal bond issuers, the SEC's two Republican members charged in a six-page dissent of the decision.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered two firms to pay a total of $100,000 in fines for violations of municipal security and other rules, the self-regulator announced Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — The consumer price index was unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after climbing 0.3% in the previous report, the Labor Department said Tuesday.

Consumer prices were unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis in April, after climbing 0.3% in the previous report, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday said it’s delaying taking action on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed rules that would govern the activities of broker’s-brokers until at least June 22.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro wants to move forward with regulations aimed at improving the stability of money-market funds, despite strong opposition from industry and state and local government groups.

WASHINGTON — U.S. import prices dropped 0.5% in April after a revised gain of 1.5% in March, originally reported as a 1.3% increase, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims declined 1,000 to 367,000 for the week ending May 5, while continuing claims fell 61,000 to 3.229 million for the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

U.S. import prices dropped 0.5% in April after a revised gain of 1.5% in March, originally reported as a 1.3% increase, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims declined to 367,000 for the week ending May 5, while continuing claims fell to 3.229 million for the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The MSRB is citing almost a half-dozen enforcement actions against municipal securities firms that highlight the need for its new Rule G-17 guidance, which clarifies and expands on underwriters' fair-dealing obligations to state and local issuers.

The SEC charged the former mayor and treasurer of Detroit for failing to disclose "lavish gifts" they received to steer public pension funds to invest $117 million in a real-estate investment trust.

SEC members voted 3-2 to approve interpretive guidance that clarifies underwriters' fair-dealing obligations to state and local issuers and requires them to provide issuers with a host of new disclosures.

WASHINGTON — Robert L. D. Colby, a former Securities and Exchange Commission official, has been named chief legal officer at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, effective June 18.

Underwriters of municipal securities will be required in August to comply with new disclosure and fair-dealing regulations designed to protect issuers of municipal bonds.

WASHINGTON — Despite an uptick in municipal bond trading during the first quarter of 2012, trading remains below levels seen in the same periods during 2010 and 2011, according to a quarterly statistics report released on Thursday by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission's auction-rate securities lawsuit against broker-dealer Morgan Keegan & Co., now a subsidiary of Raymond James Financial, is headed back to court.

UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico, a division of UBS AG, has agreed to pay $26.6 million to settle charges that it misled investors, concealed a liquidity crisis and masked control of the secondary market for 23 proprietary closed-end mutual funds.

The MSRB released details about several initiatives that could tighten regulation or increase transparency in the municipal securities market.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering scaling back its initial proposed definition of municipal advisor in final registration rules, the agency’s chairman said Wednesday.