WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities is hiring two new attorney-advisers in the latest expansion of the team tasked with providing muni market expertise to federal regulators.
The SEC posted the two new openings to the federal government's online jobs board last week. The jobs would be for two-year terms that the commission could choose to extend for another two years.
The muni office, which the Dodd-Frank Act mandated become an independent entity within the SEC reporting directly to the chairman, coordinates the commission's muni securities activities and advises the SEC on muni bond policy matters in addition to providing technical assistance related to rulemaking.
One of the positions is more junior than the other, with a salary range of between $117,620 and $193,427 per year. Applicants for that position need to have at least three years of experience as a practicing attorney, with at least two years of work involving federal securities laws and policies.
The other position pays between $134,324 and $221,435 annually and applicants must have at least four years as a working lawyer outside of law school and at least three years of experience with federal securities laws. The job listings close on Aug. 5.
The muni office, which will have at least eight with these new hires, has undergone significant expansion and reorganization in recent months after shrinking to only two members at one point last year, when only muni chief John Cross and attorney Mary Simpkins remained after the departure of Dave Sanchez.
Edward Fierro joined the muni office from Goldman, Sachs & Co. in November, and Cori Shepherd came aboard from McGuireWoods LLP in December. In April, the SEC promoted Jessica Kane to deputy director of the muni office and Rebecca Olsen to the post of chief counsel. Both women joined the muni office in 2013.
The new hires could be tasked with representing the office publicly in some cases — something Kane, Olsen, and Simpkins have done at conferences hosted by issuers, broker-dealers, and bond lawyers.
Although the office completed its work on the 777-page municipal advisor rule last year, it is likely to remain quite busy as the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board implements MA regulations and as the commission pursues recommendations included in the SEC's comprehensive muni market report from 2012. The SEC is responsible for approving MSRB rules.
SEC chairman Mary Jo White said last month that she is "very focused" on making changes to the bond market's structure, and the SEC has asked the MSRB and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to create a framework for dealers to disclose their markups on so-called "riskless principal" transactions.
The SEC declined to comment on the job postings.
