Muni Think

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors opposes passage of the Dold Amendment saying it subjects issuers to the same abuses Dodd-Frank was intended to curtail.

After last year's debt ceiling debacle, it is hard to imagine that Congress will strike a compromise to forestall the "Fiscal Cliff" facing us at the end of this year.

On September 12, the House Financial Services Committee passed, on a unanimous, bipartisan, 60-0 vote, legislation (H.R. 2827) to clarify the Dodd-Frank Act as it relates to regulating municipal advisors. The Committee’s action is notable and welcome for several reasons.

John Buckley, professor in the graduate tax program at the Georgetown University Law Center and former chief Democratic tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, says it's time for the muni bond community to get engaged in the tax reform debate.

With less than one month left before the Volcker Rule goes into effect, questions abound as to what it will look like and how it will affect the municipal market.

James E. "Scotty" Ness is remembered as a successful investor who loved his work and enjoyed widespread respect among his peers.

We would like to address several inaccuracies and misconceptions reflected in your Aug. 17 article "Los Angeles Boots S&P Pool Rating; City Angry Over Downgrades."

Despite predictions of increased municipal bond defaults, it is unlikely that filings under Chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which provides for the adjustment of a municipality's debts, will increase significantly.

Long-time bond attorney George B. Boyle died Aug. 14 in Pittsboro, N.C. He was 81.

I strongly believe it's time for all muni financial advisers to operate under the same set of stringent rules that have long-applied to registered broker-dealers who are also FAs.