Kyle Glazier

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to require dealers to train certain individuals annually on municipal securities issues.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said that new technology and investigative techniques led to a strong fiscal 2014 enforcement year, including municipal bond cases.

Public officials who have traditionally believed that they are safe from Securities and Exchange Commission action if they avoid exchanges of favor should think again in the face of increased SEC focus on anti-corruption efforts, former commission enforcement lawyer Peter Chan said.

Investment grade bonds of issuers and obligors with at least $100 million of securities outstanding should qualify as high-quality liquid assets under federal banking rules, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told regulators in a just-released letter.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined two firms a total of $28,500 for violations of municipal securities rules, including excessive markups and trade reporting failures.

Gary Goldsholle will leave his post as general counsel at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board after serving just over two years, according to multiple sources.

Inspections of municipal advisors will be low-stress and MAs will be notified in advance before seeing any Securities and Exchange Commission personnel at their doors, members of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations told non-dealer advisors.

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors voted at its annual meeting Thursday to change its name to the National Association of Municipal Advisors, and has elected Terri Heaton of Springsted Inc. as the renamed organization's president.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is concerned that Municipal Advisors are not registering properly and that some may be attempting to manipulate the MA rule as a marketing tool.

Months after the municipal advisor registration rule's final effective date, there is still considerable confusion among both regulated entities and issuers about what the new regulations require.

Municipal issuers need to understand the thinking inside the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, take steps to protect themselves, and think about whether fundamental changes to muni market regulation might be in their best interests, said former SEC lawyer Peter Chan.

Peter Chan, the architect of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative, will join Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as a partner in the firm's Chicago office, it announced Thursday.

Fluvanna County, Va.'s three-year legal tussle with Davenport & Co., has come to a close after the county's Board of Supervisors accepted an offer from the firm to drop its pursuit of $1.6 million in legal fees in exchange for an end to the suit and a public statement by the board retracting the claims it made against Davenport.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has dismissed a challenge to the investment advisers pay-to-play rule, ruling that it lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

Dealers want the de minimis contribution limit increased in the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed application of its Rule G-37 on political contributions to municipal advisors, and one lawyer told the board the rule is probably unconstitutional unless it is raised.

Three municipal securities regulators plan to hold the first Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors in Chicago on Nov. 3 and are asking folks to register for it.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Michael Piwowar said Tuesday that it isn't clear if implementing a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers providing personalized investment advice about securities would benefit retail investors.

Dealer groups are making a final push for changes to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed best execution rule, telling the Securities and Exchange Commission that it should hold off on any changes to how firms interact with sophisticated municipal market professionals until the MSRB can solicit comments on that topic directly.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board could accomplish many of its transparency goals more cheaply by providing more information itself than by requiring dealers to provide it, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told the MSRB Friday.

The Government Finance Officers Association has adopted best practices to help issuers hire brokers to invest their bond proceeds under the municipal advisor rule, and to improve the valuation of pension plans.