SEC

The use of unregistered municipal advisors in the public-private partnership sector can lead to unnecessarily expensive deals for cities and states, said SEC's Dave Sanchez.

The latest round of criticism sounds the alarm bells for closer examination and further exemptions for certain trades and certain broker dealers.

The MSRB's move to a one-minute reporting standard was questioned in a House hearing Tuesday in the context of regulation that could go too far.

Proposed rulemaking on the FDTA is expected in June, but clarity on what exactly it means for the muni market is years down the line.

In a move that kicks the can down the road at the very least, the Commission has begun a process that often results in outright rejection.

The SEC has won a partial victory against Choice Advisors and its principal Matthias O'Meara for their role in acting as unregistered brokers and for engaging in a fee-splitting arrangement.

The board approved that step at its second quarter board meeting held this week.

The SEC won its case against Richard Ganci and Richard Tortora of Capital Markets Advisors over conflicts of interest present in their fee arrangement in connection to a $119 million offering for the City of Rochester, New York.

Representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission gathered Tuesday to discuss some of their examination priorities and some of the trends they're seeing outside of exams.

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations gathered in Tennessee on Monday to discuss the implications of the SEC's newly finalized climate rule.

While the SEC's cybersecurity rule does not apply to municipal issuers, there are a few points discussed in the Adopting Release that may be useful for municipal market participants. 

The new SEC climate rule does not apply directly to municipal issuers but they may very well be on the hook for violating SEC antifraud provisions if they don't disclose those risks defined in the new rules.

The denied motion will give Rochester MAs Richard Ganci and Richard Tortora of Capital Markets Advisors the opportunity to motion for summary judgment, giving the judge a chance to consider all of the evidence present in the case.

Dealer groups look forward to the upcoming meetings to discuss the future of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board fees.

New MSRB Rule G-46 on the duties of solicitor municipal advisors goes into effect on March 1

The MSRB remains fully committed to its strategic goal of upholding public trust and looks forward to engaging with its stakeholders in the coming weeks.

The board has initiated a review of the annual rate card process.

Comments submitted to the SEC on the MSRB's amendments to Rule G-14 note how important exceptions for manual trades and limited trading activity are in the move to a one-minute reporting standard.

Speaking at the 2024 National Outlook Conference, MSRB chief executive officer noted the number of calls the MSRB has received since the suspension was announced.

The amendments add a new section to Rule G-12 to align with Exchange Act Rule 15c6-2.