Jonathan Hemmerdinger

WASHINGTON — It remains unclear whether the economic model used by state and local housing finance agencies is viable in a post-recession economy, a senior administration official said Monday.

LAS VEGAS — Analysts trying to gauge the creditworthiness of a state or local government may have to delve into state pension laws and specific provisions of labor contracts, panelists said Friday at the National Federation of Municipal Analysts' annual meeting here.

LAS VEGAS — The National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented awards to market participants, including issuers for the first time, at its annual award dinner here Thursday night.

Municipal bond issuers now may be more open to declaring bankruptcy and defaulting on loan payments, panelists said at the National Federation of Municipal Analysts annual meeting here Thursday.

Speakers at a municipal analysts' conference here urged the muni bond community to educate lawmakers and regulators about the importance of tax-free financing, noting that few officials in Washington, D.C., understand the role muni bonds play in financing critical state and local infrastructure projects.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered six firms to pay a total of $234,924 in fines and restitution for violations of municipal securities rules, the self-regulator announced Monday.

WASHINGTON — Industry groups and municipal market professionals are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to modify proposed rules aimed at ensuring underwriters and dealers comply with issuers' so-called retail-order periods.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that Matthew C. Solomon will be the new deputy chief litigation counsel in the division of enforcement, effective in June.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that Matthew C. Solomon will be the new deputy chief litigation counsel in the division of enforcement, effective in June.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is warning it will report to enforcement agencies dealers that redact critical information from documents submitted to the MSRB's Short-term Obligation Rate Transparency system, known as SHORT.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday proposed rule changes that would eliminate some duplicative reporting requirements faced by underwriters of new-issue muni securities.

The first criminal trial involving muni market executives accused of bid-rigging is scheduled to begin next week in a federal court in New York City, unless they enter into plea agreements.

Larry Bowden, an executive at Little Rock-based Stephens Inc., has taken over as chairman of Bond Dealers of America.

A FINRA hearing panel has fined David Lerner Associates $2.3 million and suspended head trader William Mason for six months with a $200,000 fine for charging excessive markups on muni bond and collateralized mortgage obligation transactions.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority hearing panel has fined Syosset, N.Y.-based David Lerner Associates Inc. $2.3 million and suspended head trader William Mason for six months with a $200,000 fine for charging excessive markups on municipal bond and collateralized mortgage obligation transactions over a two-year period.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging muni bond issuers to voluntarily post information about their bank loan financings on the EMMA system.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging municipal bond issuers to voluntarily make information about their direct bank loans available on the EMMA system.

Municipal advisors have responsibilities under existing federal law even though federal regulators have not developed new rules governing advisory practices, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act, a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board official said Monday.

WASHINGTON — The National Federation of Municipal Analysts is requesting comments from the municipal bond community on its newly updated draft of best disclosure practices for issuers of housing revenue bonds, which was released Thursday.

In recent years the SEC has sanctioned municipal bond issuers for not fully disclosing pension information or for understating pension liabilities in bond documents because officials feared political fallout. Now the opposite may be occurring.