Enforcement

The Securities and Exchange Commission's settlements with issuers under its continuing disclosure enforcement initiative will not impact specific rating determinations but will be an important component of analyzing an issuer's credit fundamentals, analysts from S&P Global Ratings said in a report on Monday.

Gates Capital Corp. agreed to pay a $22,500 fine after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found the firm violated transaction reporting standards mandated under Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules.

Puerto Rico's Office of the Comptroller is conducting 24 investigations into government corruption on the island, the office reported.

The receiver for bond-financed apartments owned by Global Ministries Foundation in Tennessee has disclosed in court filings that the Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation.

One former Kildare Capital employee has been banned from the market and another was hit with a $25,000 fine and 12-month ban after FINRA found that they artificially inflated interdealer prices for municipal securities through 25 round-trip transactions.

Merrett Stierheim, a former south Florida public administrator, will determine if Opa-locka is solvent for the state-appointed panel overseeing the city’s finances.

California Treasurer John Chiang's efforts to combat pay-to-play activities among local issuers received mixed reviews from municipal bond industry participants.

A federal judge on Friday dismissed Securities and Exchange Commission charges against Peter Cannava, a banker involved in an ill-fated private placement for startup video game company 38 Studios.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is arguing that any court challenge to the constitutionality of revised Rule G-37 on political contributions can be made when an enforcement action is taken over a violation of the rule.

Rhode Island state Rep. Robert Craven Sr., a former state assistant attorney general, is calling for the release of grand jury documents and testimony on the state’s 38 Studios investigation.

The small Florida city of Opa-locka is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to the head of a state-appointed oversight board.

Goldman Sachs & Co. has agreed to pay $50,000 to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that it submitted inaccurate auction rate securities information to a reporting system and did not have a supervisory system in place to catch the problems.

A Pennsylvania school district said it expects to receive a proposed adverse determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating general obligation bonds it issued in 2005 and advance refunded in 2013 are taxable.

The town of Ramapo, N.Y. and one of four individuals charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading muni bond investors are disputing the charges and urging a federal judge to dismiss the case.

Municipal market participants are criticizing as too low the $50,000 fine that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority imposed on Dougherty & Co. after finding the firm served as an underwriter for 54 issuers with which it had ongoing “blanket” financial advisory agreements.

Elaine Greenberg, the former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s municipal enforcement unit, has joined Greenberg Traurig’s Washington D.C. office as a shareholder, the firm announced Tuesday.

Dougherty & Co. was hit with the largest Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fine of its kind in recent years after the firm agreed to pay $50,000 for serving as an underwriter for 54 issuers with which it had ongoing "blanket" financial advisory agreements.

Oriental Financial Services, Hilltop Securities, Alluvion Securities and Sterne, Agee & Leach have agreed to pay a combined $133,358 for municipal securities violations uncovered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is battling with Miami and former budget director Michael Boudreaux over whether they can defend themselves against securities fraud charges by saying they relied on advice from auditors.

The federal judge presiding over a Securities and Exchange Commission case charging the city of Miami and its former budget director with securities fraud concluded in a July 5 order that the bulk of the case could not be decided before trial