Financial regulations

Current SEC Chair Jay Clayton will likely not be reappointed as both President Trump and Joe Biden are likely to pick chairs more aligned with their political parties.

During a Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee meeting Monday, members said they anticipate volatility as issuers await word on future stimulus, vaccines for COVID-19 and try to figure out what to disclose to investors.

If changes are made to regulating alternative trading systems, it would be the biggest change to the regulation of fixed income trading platforms since 1998.

Securities lawyers and the trade group for municipal advisors agree unregistered muni advisors shouldn't still be ignorant of the law.

Irene Carroll and her company, Funding the Gap LLC, settled with the SEC Friday for not registering as municipal advisors. The SEC said Caroll knew she provided similar services as an MA.

From June to July, not many municipal advisors relied on the SEC's temporary exemption and some sources say they don't expect it to be heavily used.

Eliseo Sampayo was fined $20,000, half of which will go to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for violating its rules.

The settlement in which Roosevelt & Cross, Inc. agreed to pay $1 million is part of a now more than two-year crackdown on "flipping" arrangements.

Days before the SEC's regulation best interest goes into place, the SEC approved corresponding changes to muni securities rules.

Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., said the SEC's temporary relief for MAs to facilitate some private placement deals without registering as a broker-dealer should not have been created through exemptive relief.

Especially helpful is the MSRB’s weekly report aggregating disclosures made to the EMMA website that describe the impact of COVID-19 on state and local governments’ financial condition and operating status.

Lawyers say there could be some nuanced changes on how the SEC approaches enforcement if Clayton does leave for the U.S. Attorney job.

The SEC released an emergency order Tuesday that would allow municipal advisors to facilitate some private placement deals, which have seen an uptick during the pandemic.

The announcement comes at a pivotal time for the municipal market as the SEC released a statement earlier this month detailing the kinds of coronavirus disclosures municipalities should be making.

The SEC encouraged issuers to provide investors with forward-looking information as to how the pandemic will affect future finances.

A federal judge denied the SEC's motion for summary judgement against John Paulsen, setting the stage for a trial.

Issuers say Clayton’s comments on corporate disclosure from earlier this month can be applied to municipal disclosure.

Perhaps most important, nobody involved in this issue has argued that issuers or anybody else would benefit in any way from exempting MAs from appropriate regulation.

NAMA believes the order will strengthen protection for issuers in keeping with the recent reforms in the municipal market.

Sources say action on the SEC's proposed exemptive order has slowed, though it could garner attention at next week's conference.