Kyle Glazier

Broker-dealer practices may change under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new municipal advisor registration rule, as the rule encourages firms to establish underwriting relationships with issuers early in order to be exempt from registration.

The federal government is closely monitoring the deteriorating fiscal health of Puerto Rico and is considering ways it might assist the struggling island, an effort complicated by political headwinds and the unique status of U.S. territories and their bonds.

The Federal government shutdown will leave most agencies overseeing the bond market mostly operational in the near-term, but the municipal advisor rule’s implementation will be delayed and issuers are worried that Build America Bond payments might be cut off or delayed.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has seated its new board of directors and named municipal advisor regulations as its top priority for the 2014 fiscal year, MSRB announced Tuesday.

A new study shows that state and local governments continued to complete their annual financial disclosures at a slow pace of nearly six months after the close of the fiscal year, a longstanding industry complaint that is getting increased attention in the wake of high-profile distress in Detroit and Harrisburg.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has announced a policy for formally incorporating economic analysis in its regulations.

Bond lawyers are worried that exemptions from registration under the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor rule might not protect long-established practices by themselves and their underwriter clients.

Broker-dealers are concerned about the exemptions provided for underwriters in the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor registration rule, saying it hampers their ability to "pitch ideas" to issuers.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is working on projects aimed at shedding more light on the varying strength of general obligation bond pledges, as well post-issuance tax and disclosure compliance, NABL president-elect Allen Robertson said in a recent interview.

Elaine Greenberg, former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal securities and public pensions enforcement unit, has joined the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's office here, the firm announced Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would prohibit, with a few exceptions, broker-dealers from providing consent to issuer requests to change bond authorizing documents.

Market participants are generally pleased that the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a municipal adviser definition that addressed concerns from several sectors of the muni bond industry, but independent MAs remain concerned that the registration exemptions might allow for abuses Dodd-Frank was intended to curb.

The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously adopted a registration rule for municipal advisors, establishing that they have a federal fiduciary duty to clients if they provide advice, compensated or not, that is related to bonds or other municipal financial products and involves recommendations based on the specific needs of a municipal entity.

Reps. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, and Gwen Moore, D-Wis., are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission's newest members to support the bipartisan legislative duo's efforts to narrow the definition of municipal advisor.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms and one individual a total of $87,500 for violating pricing, trade reporting and other muni violations, with Tradition Asiel Securities accounting for $80,000 of that.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the operator of Miami-Dade County, Fla.'s largest hospital with defrauding investors by failing to disclose its financial woes prior to an $83 million bond offering.

A proposal to modify the standard of independence for Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board members is inconsistent with federal law, the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors told the Securities and Exchange Commission Sept. 12.

A coalition of mayors from across the country is urging SEcurities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White not to support structural changes to municipal money market mutual funds, especially the adoption of a floating net asset value.

Holders of debt issued by Detroit; Harrisburg, Pa.; Jefferson County, Ala.; and Stockton, Calif.; are unlikely to get outcomes even as favorable as investors during the Great Depression, according to a report issued Thursday by Moody's Investors Service.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Miami, Fla., and the city's former budget director agree they are unlikely to settle a bond-related securities fraud case and that the trial will be lengthy, according to a joint scheduling report they filed with a federal court in Miami.