Financial regulations

The Securities and Exchange Commission will discuss voluntary disclosure and buy-side perspectives among other topics in March.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wll work with the market to change secondary disclosure habits without a mandate, issuers and analysts said.

Nicole Byrd, a senior investment professional at Nationwide Mutual Insurance, will be the National Federation of Municipal Analysts chair for the next year.

The board will, among other things, review comments on a proposed order that would allow municipal advisors to participate in some private placement activities.

The median time it takes for municipal bond borrowers to complete their annual audits was 156 days for fiscal 2018: equal to the slowest time in the past 11 years.

An SEC advisory committee recommended allowing investment advisers affiliated with broker-dealers to offer and sell negotiated new issue muni bonds during the order period that the dealer also participates in.

Dealer groups want the SEC to examine broker-dealers and municipal advisors equally.

The investigation appears to be linked to the supervision of Deborah Kelley, a broker who was convicted and sanctioned for bribing a state pension fund officer.

Events at the SEC are likely to create a number of important MSRB rule changes in the coming year.

In response to the SEC's complaint, the former chief business officer of a California school district said he acted in good faith.

Issuers, bond lawyers, and analysts have all raised complaints about the proposed addition to EMMA.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has consistently called for steps to reduce investors' reliance on stale financial information.

The SEC chairman’s comments are consistent with his record, which has included repeated calls for the MSRB to take steps to be sure investors are aware that issuer financials filed to EMMA can often be many months old.

The proposal would impact the private placement business and may require amendments of MSRB rules.

In 2012 John Cross became the first person to head the independent Office of Municipal Securities at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton seemed noncommittal on a proposed exemptive order for municipal advisors.

Though enforcement cases slightly decreased this past year, lawyers say the Securities and Exchange Commission is just as aggressive as ever.

Cross, who served as associate tax legislative counsel at the Office of Tax Policy until Friday, said that he resigned in order to be closer to family.

If the proposal is approved, the timing of issuers' annual financial disclosures would be prominently displayed as soon as the beginning of 2020.

Data on default rates shows that while there has been improvement in consistency between corporate and muni ratings, there is still work to be done.