Enforcement

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Edward Jones $200,000 for misrepresenting taxable customer interest as tax-exempt and failing to adequately monitor its supervisory systems meant to address short positions the firm had in municipal bonds.

For the first time in the municipal securities market, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged a municipal advisory firm, its chief executive officer, and two of its employees for breaching their fiduciary duty by failing to disclose a conflict of interest to a municipal client.

Westlands Water District, Calif. is on Fitch Ratings' rating watch negative after it was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors.

Issuers are not likely to change the Securities and Exchange Commission staff’s minds about the violations they have disclosed under the commission’s municipal self-reporting initiative, the commission’s top cop for municipal securities enforcement said on Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged California's largest agricultural water district and two officials with misleading investors about its financial condition when it issued $77 million of bonds in 2012.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged a Rhode Island agency, its underwriter, and three individuals associated with $75 million of 2010 bonds for a startup video game company with defrauding investors by not revealing the complete financial status of the company or the extent of the compensation arrangement with the underwriter.

Six broker-dealers and investment providers have agreed to pay $103.35 million in preliminary settlements of charges by issuers and state attorneys general that they engaged in bid-rigging and price fixing for municipal investment products and derivatives.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered George K. Baum & Co. to pay $270,000 for charging a Colorado school district more than four times the firm’s normal underwriting fee, partly to pay for costs associated with promoting bond ballot initiatives.

The Securities and Exchange Commission told Miami, Miami-Dade County, and the Marlins that no enforcement action will be recommended after a four-year-long inquiry into the financing of the team's $615.7 million stadium.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel in San Juan ordered UBS AG to pay an investor about $1.45 million in compensation for losses suffered by investments in its Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds.

Oppenheimer & Co., WFG Investments, and E*TRADE were three of seven firms that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a total of $412,500 for trading municipal securities below the minimum denomination.

Muni market groups are considering changes to issuer audit processes, improvements to EMMA, and additional guidance from regulators as part of a collaborative effort to shore up continuing disclosure and prevent additional rules or enforcement actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Government Finance Officers Association has issued an alert urging municipal issuers to be prepared for settlement offers from the Securities Exchange Commission under its program for voluntary self-reporting of violations in connection with continuing disclosure obligations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has plans to increase its examination and enforcement staff as President Obama announced in his budget on Tuesday that he wants to double the SEC’s budget by fiscal year 2021, starting with a $200 million increase to $1.78 billion in 2017.

Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. will pay $850,000 to settle securities fraud charges brought by Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander over the firm's underwriting of $39 million of bonds issued for a failed artificial sweetener plant.

Recent opinions issued by the California attorney general’s office may have some municipal advisors and broker-dealers treading carefully to avoid breaking Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s release of a final round of 14 underwriter settlements under its self-reporting initiative may indicate issuer settlement s are next.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 14 municipal underwriting firms for violations in municipal bond offerings under its voluntary Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative.

School and community college districts violate California law if they purposely incentivize municipal finance professionals to advocate for passage of a bond measure, said a formal opinion from Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The House is scheduled to hold a voice vote on Monday on a bill that would treat investment grade and actively traded municipal securities as high quality liquid assets under a rule banking regulators adopted in 2014.