Enforcement

The Internal Revenue Service appears is stepping up its audit of $80 million of Arborwood Community Development District's 2006 bonds and appears to be focusing in part on the Florida CDD's board and land that may have been purchased at too high of a price.

J. P. Turner & Co. and Wedbush Securities, Inc. were hit with a total of $305,000 in fines by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for violating municipal bond rules in connection with excessive markups, disclosure failures, and/or falsifying documents.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged State Street Bank and Trust Co., the former head of its public funds group, and a lawyer-lobbyist with securities fraud for making illicit payments and campaign contributions to obtain Ohio pension fund business worth millions.

Christopher Brogdon, facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges for defrauding investors in senior living facility financings, has been ordered by a federal court in New Jersey to create a plan to pay those investors.

Municipal market participants will once again see an active year for enforcement in 2016 as the Securities and Exchange Commission's self-reporting initiative largely wraps up and the enforcement division mixes a continued focus on pricing and market structure actions with potential new areas for enforcement like municipal advisors and bank loans.

An Alabama federal judge entered judgments approving settlements in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s cases against former JPMorgan bankers Douglas MacFaddin and Charles LeCroy, who were accused of wrongdoing in the Jefferson County, Ala. sewer financings.

The FBI arrested 10 Puerto Rico officials and businessmen in a corruption probe, dealing a blow to the government as it looks to resolve its financial crisis.

Two former JPMorgan bankers have agreed not to violate securities laws and to repay money they made while working on transactions involving Jefferson County, Ala., Securities and Exchange Commission documents said Tuesday.

Three muni regulators and enforcement agencies are opening registration for a free compliance outreach program for municipal advisors that they plan to hold in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Feb 3, 2016.

Christopher Brogdon, the retirement home financier who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission charges, has denied being liable for a particularly problematic deal in new filings with a federal court in Georgia.