SEC

The pandemic presents new challenges to regulators examining municipal advisor firms.

Changes to the MSRB come a year after the proposal of legislation that would decrease the size of the board and increase the cooling off period for public board members.

Marshall will still keep her position as chief compliance officer as she also takes on the role of interim chief regulatory officer. Lanny Schwartz left his position as chief regulatory officer almost a year ago.

Market participants say issuer coronavirus disclosures have stagnated due to tax season and issuer fears of future legal ramifications.

This is the latest case to involve 'flipping' — improperly allocating bonds meant for retail customers and instead selling them to other market participants — following multiple related actions made by the SEC over the years.

Several groups are arguing their case to keep their seats on a smaller board.

Conditions under a recently announced temporary exemption are narrow, SEC staff said, despite push back from dealers.

Jay Clayton's recent testimony to federal lawmakers was "troubling," the dealer group said in a letter to the SEC chairman.

Despite criticism, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said the calculator will help track the timeliness of secondary market disclosures.

Lawyers say there could be some nuanced changes on how the SEC approaches enforcement if Clayton does leave for the U.S. Attorney job.

The SEC released an emergency order Tuesday that would allow municipal advisors to facilitate some private placement deals, which have seen an uptick during the pandemic.

Primary market COVID-19 disclosures increased to 2,926 filings from 2,529 the week prior. Continuing disclosures increased to 6,107 filings from 5,677.

No real clear, universal definition of ‘green’ exists and it is complicating investor understanding of the market.

The SEC has asked for more timely, voluntary disclosure from issuers of municipal bonds.

Greater pre-trade transparency has been a long-standing Securities and Exchange Commission goal.

The announcement comes at a pivotal time for the municipal market as the SEC released a statement earlier this month detailing the kinds of coronavirus disclosures municipalities should be making.

The MSRB also said more municipalities have begun referencing CARES Act loans in their disclosures.

The SEC encouraged issuers to provide investors with forward-looking information as to how the pandemic will affect future finances.

The MSRB is looking to cut back on repetition in its broker-dealer suitability rules, which is a welcome change for the dealer community as Reg BI goes into effect in less than two months.

A federal judge denied the SEC's motion for summary judgement against John Paulsen, setting the stage for a trial.