Washington DC

Todd Barker appears prepared to have negotiated a monetary settlement with the SEC, while Dwayne Edwards plans to contest the SEC's motion in court.

The change in control of the House does end the threat of Republicans terminating the tax-exemption of private activity bonds to help pay for additional tax cuts, but the cost includes the loss of some industry allies such as Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill.

Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal, friendly to the muni market, is likely to chair the critical Ways and Means Committee.

Democrats could attempt to revive Build America Bonds as part of a bipartisan infrastructure bill following their House victory.

Kyle Glazier is the new Washington bureau chief of The Bond Buyer. He succeeds longtime bureau chief Lynn Hume, who has retired after more than three decades on the job.

If the workarounds states are using by creating charitable foundations as a way to pay property taxes or state and local income taxes are legal, Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone said it’s up to Congress to decide whether to end them.

The IRS announcement of an advisory committee shuffle has some lawyers nervous.

Public finance cases represented 3% of the SEC's enforcement actions the past fiscal year.

Most state and local governments are concerned the ceiling will make it harder to raise taxes to pay for public services and infrastructure.

Next month's event may also give attendees a rare chance to hear about muni issues directly from every commissioner.

Three areas are new additions to the work plan of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Business Operating Division, IRS officials said.

FINRA found, and the SEC upheld, muni and other rule that violations Thaddeus North failed to prevent as chief compliance officer.

The Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration plans to audit the IRS' use of a much-feared enforcement tool under which it can impose penalties for the misconduct of municipal bond transaction participants such as underwriters, lawyers, municipal advisors or their firms.

The memo appears to respond to a March 29 written request by the National Association of Bond Lawyers to Christie Jacobs, director of the IRS Indian Tribal Governments/Tax Exempt Bonds Office to clarify the new law.

The defense team accused the SEC of a "gross abuse of power."

The pilot program began in May, but was not officially announced by the IRS until last week.

The first meeting for several new board members included discussions with other regulators and groups, the MSRB said Monday.

The number of MSRB-registered dealers has fallen by almost one-third since 2009 and FINRA and the MSRB have some concerns about it.

The municipal securities market is slowly looking more like the stock market.

The pre-trade information available on alternative trading systems to broker-dealer participants would likely benefit all municipal securities investors if made more publicly available, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s chief economist said in releasing a report Thursday that is to be presented to a market structure advisory group next week.