Law and regulation

It didn't take long for several broker-dealers to start selling small denominations of Puerto Rico $3.5 billion of general obligation bonds to retail investors in violation of a requirement in the official statement and municipal securities rules.

Regulatory officials are urging state treasurers to take the lead on helping municipalities understand disclosure compliance, as well as remaining engaged on developing municipal advisor rulemaking and guidance.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced on Tuesday that they plan to jointly hold a series of free regional compliance outreach programs for broker-dealers in April and June.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined OFS Securities, Inc. in San Juan, Puerto Rico $40,570 and ordered it to pay more than $13,278 in restitution for buying the territory's bonds for its own account and then selling them to customers at prices with excessive markups.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Monday proposed to amend its rule on professional qualifications to cover municipal advisors and require them to take a test as soon as next year.

The Financial Industry Regulatory has a growing list of arbitration claims related to Puerto Rico bonds on its plate as investors seek damages for what they claim was misleading advice about bond funds.

Dealer groups are happy that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has exempted sophisticated municipal market professionals from its proposed best execution rule, but would like more guidance and economic analysis going forward.

Federal Judge Kimba Wood, who imposed $5.6 million in fines and restitution on municipal bond bid-rigger David Rubin, called prison unwarranted for the founder of CDR Financial Products.

A federal judge sentenced CDR Financial Products Inc. founder David Rubin to two years' probation and ordered him to pay a combined $5.65 million in fines and restitution for his role in rigging bids for municipal bond contracts.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to consolidate interpretive guidance on dealers' time-of-trade disclosure obligations into three new rules and amendments to an existing rule.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission not to approve the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed fair-pricing rule, arguing it is too intertwined with another pending rule.

A federal judge has ordered seven defendants to disgorge millions in ill-gotten gains and imposed other administrative penalties stemming from a pay-to-play case involving the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

Bankers and dealers told the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board that a blanket ban on principal transactions by firms acting as municipal advisors is unworkable, but non-dealer MAs disagreed in comments filed Monday.

The sentencing of municipal bond bid-rigger David Rubin has been postponed to 3:30 p.m. March 12.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Michael Piwowar has asked the staff of the Office of Municipal Securities to give him some proposals that he can push through the SEC to improve price transparency in the municipal market.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking board has increased the fees it charges for several of its data subscription products and services.

Rep. Dave Camp's tax reform proposal would provide some additional revenue stability to the beleaguered island, and the controversial discussion draft is welcomed by the commonwealth's representative in Congress and others working to advance the territory's interests.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to consolidate its multiple registration requirements and forms for municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors.

Justice Department lawyers have filed new documents to support their argument that convicted bid-rigger David Rubin should face a stiff penalty for his crimes because the kickbacks he received as part of the scheme caused real loss to municipal issuers.

Municipal market trades increased for the first time in three years in 2013, driven by retail-sized transactions, according to the annual fact book the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.