Enforcement

Telley Meier, IRS field operations manager for the Indian Tribal Government/Tax Exempt Bonds office, advises bond attorneys to call the examination agent if they think an audit has been erroneously selected.

“Major banking organizations have now used this abusive tax shelter scheme to illegally shelter well over $1 billion in taxable income,” said the letter by W. Mark Scott.

Trade reporting and supervisory failures were behind FINRA's action against the New York-based firm.

Broker-dealers can avoid fines if they self-report 529 savings plan supervisory violations by April 1.

Only five priorities remain on the Treasury and IRS work plan in 2019 for the municipal bond market.

Three areas are new additions to the work plan of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Business Operating Division, IRS officials said.

The Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration plans to audit the IRS' use of a much-feared enforcement tool under which it can impose penalties for the misconduct of municipal bond transaction participants such as underwriters, lawyers, municipal advisors or their firms.

The whistleblower responsible for federal investigations and lawsuits accusing banks and broker-dealers of fraud and collusion in the remarketing of variable rate demand obligations will likely be forced to go public because of a recent ruling by Massachusetts’ highest court.

The MSRB, SEC, and FINRA will host an outreach event early next year as muni advisors prepare for a new principal exam among other requirements.

The Internal Revenue Service has taken no action regarding tax-exempt refunding bonds that were issued for Gettysburg College in 2010, after closing an audit that appears to have been randomly initiated.

The MSRB is hoping that new guidelines will encourage more conversation between its staff and the broker-dealers and muni advisors it regulates.

FINRA examiners alleged Mesirow violated disclosure and supervisory rules.

The disclosure of some variable-rate demand obligation information on EMMA shouldn't be used to dismiss a lawsuit alleging fraud in VRDO remarketing,lawyers for the plaintiff told an Illinois court.

The fallout from a 2017 federal fraud case is continuing to impact bond investors with the latest development involving the loss of tax-exempt status for bonds that were issued for two assisted living facilities in Georgia.

Dealer firms are trying to comply with newer rules like markup disclosure, while regulators are finding some problems and working to communicate more clearly.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent letters to the 12 top banks and broker-dealers that remarket variable rate demand obligations, seeking information and documents on their remarketing and rate resetting practices.

The MSRB is concerned about the fairness of so-called "pre-arranged trading," but some say it's a bit of a grey area.

The SEC is sorting out those charged with engaging in a large multi-year "flipping" and kickback scheme.

James J. O'Neil received a 12-month suspension from the market for his role in the flipping and kickback scheme.

The now-defunct unregistered broker-dealer Core Performance Management, LLC, and four of its former employees settled fraud and MSRB rule violations with the SEC for engaging in municipal bond flipping and kickback scheme.