Enforcement

The Securities and Exchange Commission objects to further delay in the 2009 case against two JPMorgan bankers charged with bribing Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners and broker-dealers to win business.

Three former employees of CDR Financial Products Inc. who cooperated with the government's investigation into municipal bond bid-rigging were given prison terms ranging from six months to 18 months.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander issued a cease-and-desist order against the former Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. for alleged fraud in its role as underwriter on $39 million of defaulted revenue bonds issued by a Missouri city for a now abandoned artificial sweetener plant.

Four firms agreed to pay $105,000 in fines for violations of pricing, political contribution, supervisory and other rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to set a trial date for two former JPMorgan bankers facing charges related to bankrupt Jefferson County's defaulted sewer deals.

Ohio-based American Municipal Power Inc. has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to the Prairie State coal-fired plant, according to public documents obtained by an environmental group.

Though sequestration prevented two federal regulators from sharing their perspectives, other panelists speaking to bond lawyers in San Francisco predicted more enforcement and whistleblower activity.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still months away from finalizing its definition of municipal advisor, but is poised to step up muni bond enforcement efforts in general, the head of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities told bond lawyers meeting here.

The recent settlement by Illinois with the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of shoddy pension disclosure will lead to better disclosure overall and boost the credit of the entire municipal securities market, according to a report Moody's Investors Services released Friday.

Sentencing of David Rubin and his firm, CDR Financial Products Inc., for charges related to bid-rigging of municipal investment contracts, has been postponed by a federal judge until June 28.

A federal judge has postponed sentencing of two former CDR Financial Products Inc., staffers until after the bid-rigging trial against former Bank of America executive Phillip Dennis Murphy, which is slated to start Feb. 3, 2014.

The SEC's whistleblower office is seeking additional details about a complaint that Scranton, Pa., misled in a bond document regarding the nature of a tax hike.

Municipal market participants face the prospect of more enforcement action this year while issuers will be pressured to step up disclosure efforts, industry experts said Tuesday, the final day of the National Municipal Bond Summit.

Peabody Energy Corp., which led efforts to develop the mostly bond-financed, joint power agency-owned Prairie State Energy Campus, has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the coal-fired plant's development.

Citing the need to review millions of pieces of evidence, former Bank of America executive Phillip Dennis Murphy, who was indicted in July 2012 for scheming to rig bids for investment contracts, has waived his right to a speedy trial and requested a trial date of Feb. 3, 2014.

Seven firms and two individuals have agreed to pay a total of $164,500 in fines and nearly $17,000 in restitution for violating trade, price and other rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Lawyers for three former bankers convicted of rigging bids for municipal bond reinvestment contracts have pinned their appeals partly on circumstances surrounding the testimony of cooperating witness Adrian Scott-Jones, who abruptly left the courthouse during a day of testimony, and never returned.

Municipal market insiders say muni-related items working though the Securities and Exchange Commission will likely remain on track if Mary Jo White, a securities litigator and former U.S. prosecutor, becomes the SEC's new chairman.