Law and regulation

The MSRB told the municipal market on Tuesday that its changes to move the settlement cycle to two days instead of three will be effective on Sept. 5 to align with the rest of the markets.

Investors with holdings in municipal conduit bonds that have been the subject of recent SEC enforcement actions over fraudulent commingling of assets are suing Bank of Oklahoma Financial, which served as the trustee for many of the faulty offerings.

Representatives for municipal advisors and dealers wrote to the MSRB saying it must reevaluate its proposed new advertising rule for municipal advisors and its attempts to harmonize its existing dealer advertising rule with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority requirements.

The public finance team at the Houston law firm of Bracewell expects to increase its appeal to bond issuers after adding former SEC attorney Edward Fierro and rising in the ranks of bond counsel in 2016.

Jay Clayton, the nominee to take over as SEC chair, told senators on Thursday that a focus on enforcement against individuals will be an important part of the SEC’s efforts to curb bad actors in the capital markets.

The move to a shorter settlement cycle for munis of two instead of three business days after the trade date will take effect on Sept. 5.

The MSRB responded to market participants comments about a prior draft of municipal advisor continuing education requirements by making several changes and providing more details about the way an MA firm could implement the proposal.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts’ final best practices on charter school disclosures suggests schools can use links to websites for certain information.

Amie Riggle Berlin, the SEC’s lawyer who handled its case against Miami and Michael Boudreaux, explained the important aspects of a reliance on professionals defense and the need for issuers to stay truthful in their offering documents during a conference panel.

Ed Fierro has joined Bracewell after leaving the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities.