Kyle Glazier

The economic decisions municipal governments are making right now could serve as a good guide to how they might behave under fiscal stress, Public Financial Management managing director Michael Nadol told muni analysts Friday.

Federal aid for Puerto Rico and its cash-strapped issuing authorities is not going to happen, former governor Luis Fortuño told municipal analysts Thursday.

Any well-publicized enforcement action over whether bank loans should be treated as securities would certainly provide some guidance on this issue, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board executive director Lynnette Kelly told muni analysts meeting here.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented awards to six muni market professionals during a luncheon at its annual conference in Las Vegas Wednesday.

“Don’t fear the Fed” and looming interest rate increases, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research told municipal analysts meeting here Wednesday

The Securities and Exchange Commission has frequently pursued recent municipal market enforcement actions in federal court rather than in front of its own administrative law judges, where critics have charged that the SEC enjoys a distinct home field advantage.

The California State Water Resources Control Board's new water conservation mandate will reduce revenues available to pay bondholders, Fitch Ratings said.

The annual average length of time between the end of the fiscal year and the date on which audited financial statements were submitted to EMMA was 448 days in 2014, sharply above the average of 342 days in 2013, a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board report found.

A bipartisan coalition of House members has introduced legislation that would require federal banking regulators to treat certain municipal securities held by large banks and other financial institutions as high-quality liquid assets

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority faced criticism from House Republicans Friday wondered if the broker-dealer self-regulator is too heavy-handed with small firms.

Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service have assigned their highest ratings to Seattle's unlimited and second-highest ratings to its limited tax general obligation bonds ahead of a more than $350 million competitive sale next week.

U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli has until May 20 to respond to a request from Miami, Fla.'s former budget director that the Supreme Court hear his argument that he should be shielded from a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to publish interpretive guidance on its best execution rule no later than July, MSRB chair Kym Arnone said Monday.

A California appellate court's decision could reduce the economic flexibility of local governments and water utilities that analysts are already concerned could struggle to raise revenue in the arid conditions.

StateTrust Investments, Inc. has been penalized $90,000 and censured by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a settlement over charges it broke Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules when it sold Puerto Rico bonds for an amount less than the issuer's specified minimum denomination.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has released a study outline for its 100 question multiple-choice municipal advisor representative qualification exam, which will be the first mandatory competency exam for professionals giving bond-related advice to state and local governments.

Participants in municipal bond transactions need to clearly identify, document and disclose potential conflicts of interest in order to avoid potential negative ramifications, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts concluded in a new white paper.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to require dealers to submit new information through its trade reporting system has some support from the two major industry groups, but one is concerned about possible inefficiency and confusion and the other wants a longer implementation period.

Fitch ratings has revised the outlook to stable from negative for $414.4 million of North Las Vegas, Nev., bonds, and affirmed the rating at B.

A network interruption brought down the financial market’s largest inventory management system Friday morning, stifling municipal bond trading on some platforms and highlighting vulnerability of the market to technological failures.