Law and regulation

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has ruled against The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit, which was seeking at least $39.9 million from Citigroup Global Markets, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and other firms over risky investments.

Market participants are generally pleased that the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a municipal adviser definition that addressed concerns from several sectors of the muni bond industry, but independent MAs remain concerned that the registration exemptions might allow for abuses Dodd-Frank was intended to curb.

Municipal money market funds should not be required to have floating rate net asset values, most of the witnesses and several lawmakers said at a hearing held here on Wednesday by a House Financial Services Committee panel.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a package of rules and proposed rule changes designed to consolidate and harmonize fair dealing requirements for muni securities dealers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously adopted a registration rule for municipal advisors, establishing that they have a federal fiduciary duty to clients if they provide advice, compensated or not, that is related to bonds or other municipal financial products and involves recommendations based on the specific needs of a municipal entity.

State and local governments are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to either abandon proposed reforms for money market funds or exempt municipal MMFs from the reforms and clarify the rule changes are not meant to impact local government investment pools.

Reps. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, and Gwen Moore, D-Wis., are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission's newest members to support the bipartisan legislative duo's efforts to narrow the definition of municipal advisor.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms and one individual a total of $87,500 for violating pricing, trade reporting and other muni violations, with Tradition Asiel Securities accounting for $80,000 of that.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to meet on Wednesday, Sept. 18 to consider whether to adopt new registration rules and forms for municipal advisors that detail who they are.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the operator of Miami-Dade County, Fla.'s largest hospital with defrauding investors by failing to disclose its financial woes prior to an $83 million bond offering.

A proposal to modify the standard of independence for Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board members is inconsistent with federal law, the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors told the Securities and Exchange Commission Sept. 12.

A coalition of mayors from across the country is urging SEcurities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White not to support structural changes to municipal money market mutual funds, especially the adoption of a floating net asset value.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Miami, Fla., and the city's former budget director agree they are unlikely to settle a bond-related securities fraud case and that the trial will be lengthy, according to a joint scheduling report they filed with a federal court in Miami.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed revised amendments with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking to modify earlier rule change proposals governing retail order periods.

Leaders of the National Association of State Treasurers are meeting with regulatory officials and members of Congress this week, urging them to oppose a major money market fund reform proposal and any alteration to the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board sent letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission defending the MSRB's proposal to loosen the standard of independence for public board members.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher has sworn to take up the cause of municipal market reform at the SEC, accepting the baton from Elisse Walter, who recently left the commission.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers announced Thursday that it will present service awards to three recipients when the group meets in Chicago later this month.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White's annual salary is $165,300, far below the base compensation of any of the top-paid, full-time officials of 21 self-regulatory, industry, government, and other municipal securities-related groups, most of which the SEC either oversees or have members the commission regulates or protects.

Groups representing broker-dealers and issuers have sent a joint letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission complaining that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking board had sent SEC an amendment for approval without offering it for public comment, a charge the MSRB denied.