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Bills now pending in the Senate and House would ease bank regulators' treatment of municipal securities

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said it may take the U.S. central bank around five years to shrink its balance sheet to a more normal size once that process gets underway.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $39 billion 91-day bills and $33 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

Awards and settlements are piling up even as the U.S. wealth management unit reports record profits.

Dwayne Edwards and the entities he controlled are arguing the SEC’s arguments against them for fraud are based on inaccurate information.

The SEC has announced a settlement with an Arizona-based brokerage firm, its chief executive officer, and its former underwriter's counsel and head of investment banking over charges related to fraudulent municipal bond offerings related to Atlanta businessman Christopher Brogdon.

Most Federal Reserve officials said they backed a policy change that would begin shrinking the central bank's $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this year, as they reiterated their outlook for gradual interest-rate increases.

Morningstar has given its “Socially Conscious” designation to the JPMorgan Municipal Income Fund, making it one of the first in the municipal bond space.

The Treasury Department will conduct a live small-value contingency cash management bill auction on April 7.

Jay Clayton’s nomination to be SEC chair cleared the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and will now move to the full Senate.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker resigned Tuesday saying he confirmed confidential materials in 2012, according to published reports.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $55 billion of four-week bills at a 0.760% high yield, a price of 99.940889.

A number of municipal market groups and firms asked the MSRB in comment letters to create an exemption to its CUSIP rule that would allow placement agents to generally avoid having to obtain CUSIP numbers when they are engaging in private placements, including direct purchases.

Three rate hikes appear to remain appropriate for this year, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and CEO Patrick T. Harker repeated Monday, noting they can be spread out.

In this new edition of Muni Minute, we turn our focus to The Hill in Washington, D.C., as there will be lots of activity that should be of interest to the municipal market.

The proposal doesn’t provide interpretive guidance many hoped for following the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative.

The primary muni market has been volatile the past month since the election. Now with 2016 almost over, the Federal Open Market Committee is set to meet on Wednesday with a bump in interest rates widely expected, which would be the first since last December. In the latest installment of Muni Minute, we preview the Fed meeting and speculate on what could follow from the FOMC in 2017.