Law and regulation

Securities and Exchange Commission officials rejected bond lawyers’ suggestions that the settlements with 36 underwriters under the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative contained specific parameters of continuing disclosure violations.

Should industry practices on pricing new bonds change in the wake of the SEC’s enforcement case against Edward Jones?

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to administer its pilot Series 50 municipal advisory representative qualification exam from Jan. 15 through Feb., 15, 2016.

Secondary market disclosure, issue price, the tax exemption for municipal bonds and private placements with banks are some of the topics the National Association of Bond Lawyers will focus on in the coming year, according to the group’s incoming president, Kenneth Artin.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will no longer stick to its Dec. 7 implementation date for its best execution rule, but will instead set the date to fall four months after it releases its guidance on the rule, the self-regulator said Thursday.

The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division is conducting a general inquiry into whether certain brokers’ brokers have engaged in anti-competitive practices with regard to pricing for secondary market and other municipal bond trades, according to industry officials.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve proposed rule changes that would address potential conflicts of interest by limiting the gifts and non-cash benefits that non-dealer municipal advisors can give to issuers and others in connection with their activities.

Arbitration panels ordered UBS Financial Services, Inc. and its subsidiary in Puerto Rico to pay more than $5.44 million to investors in the firm's proprietary closed-end mutual funds that predominantly contained Puerto Rico bonds.

Kenneth D. Gibbs, president of the municipal securities group at Jefferies LLC, plans to leave the firm at the end of the year and take over leadership of the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Kym Arnone, the current chair of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, has left Barclays Capital, according to a company spokesperson.