SEC

The relief means little for traditional municipal issuers but will have an effect on some conduit borrowers and issuers "adjacent" to the municipal market.

The board expects to have FY 2024 fees filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission before Dec. 1.

Officials from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board said that adhering to the Financial Data Transparency Act may make things more complicated.

Without admitting or denying the findings, Luther Speight and his firm Luther Speight and Company agreed to pay civil penalties of $20,000 and $10,000, respectively.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board heads into its new fiscal year focused on market regulation, improving data for the muni market, and updating its EMMA technology platform.

The firm, without admitting or denying the findings, agreed to pay a $60,000 civil penalty.

The amendments exempt those who've already qualified as a municipal advisor representative from retaking the Series 50 exam.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Gary Gensler, speaking in front of the Senate Banking Committee, defended his tenure and the 22 rulemaking proposals he's adopted in the last few years.

Brandon Comer and his firm Comer Capital Group are in talks to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission charges against them ahead of a pretrial conference Nov. 17.

The action does not have immediate implications for municipal issuers but could give the muni market a sense of how the SEC is beginning to think about cybersecurity risks.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Securities is the seventh firm charged by the Commission for failing to comply with the appropriate disclosures in connection with the limited offering exemption.

The rule amendments would create an exemption for previously qualified municipal advisors to forego requalification after a lapse in working for a municipal advisor.

The SEC has adopted amendments that will increase minimum liquidity requirements, among other features but will only affect the muni market on the margins.

Vern Breland has been permanently barred from participating in any municipal securities issuance after he and the city's municipal advisor were charged with misleading investors on two offerings.

Through proposed SEC regulations, federal grants and cybersecurity insurance, areas of the public finance industry are adjusting to costly and omnipresent cyber threats. 

The SEC has settled with Robert Benecke and his firm Benecke Economics for acting as an unregistered MA in a case that is emblematic of the growing problem regulators and advisors alike face.

Capital Markets Advisors and Richard Ganci have called for partial judgment in their defense against Securities and Exchange Commission claims that they misled investors, ignored signs of financial distress and that they failed to disclose material conflicts of interest to nearly 200 municipal clients.

The MSRB has received approval from the SEC for its amendments to Rules G-12 on uniform practice and G-15 on confirmation, clearance, and settlement practices.

FINRA has charged Crews and Associates $50,000 and its former head trader and CEO $30,000 for selling municipal bonds with markups and for failing to maintain a supervisory system.

The new law's uncertain impact on cities and states has been a hot topic at the GFOA's annual conference this week.