Law and regulation

Seeking to avoid the implementation of further continuing disclosure regulations, the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers has released new best practices urging state governments to voluntarily disclose nearly all financial and economic data.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has announced a slate of officer and director nominees the group will vote on at NABL's annual meeting Sept. 25 in Chicago.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has released a continuing disclosure guide providing issuers with a road map of their obligations under MSRB rules, citing a slew of recent federal enforcement actions in which issuers sometimes failed to file the required information.

Kara Stein took her oath as the newest member of the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday, bringing to a close the SEC career of Elisse Walter.

The Bond Dealers of America will issue a report on municipal bankruptcy in the wake of Detroit's filing last month, and will also release a best execution proposal for the municipal market, the group's leaders recently said.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has for the first time has made public its policy on interpretive guidance, an action the MSRB said is consistent with its focus on regulatory clarity and efficiency.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is close to releasing a notice aimed at helping issuers avoid a "disclosure vacuum" similar to the one that brought federal enforcement actions down on Harrisburg, Pa. earlier this year.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is seeking input from municipal market participants on whether it should require broker-dealers to seek "best execution" of customer orders for municipal securities and how this concept can best be applied to munis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged UBS Securities with violating securities laws while structuring and marketing a collateralized debt obligation by failing to disclose that it retained $23.6 million in upfront cash it received in the course of acquiring collateral for the CDO.

Elisse Walter is leaving the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the commissioner and former chairman who worked to shed more light on the municipal market is confident her colleagues will carry on the push for increased transparency when she leaves after five years.

In an action that could affect numerous transactions across the country, the Internal Revenue Service has determined that revenue bonds issued by a New Jersey authority for the Deborah Heart and Lung Center are taxable because the borrower entered into a total return swap.

The Senate confirmed Michael Piwowar and Kara Stein as members of the Securities and Exchange Commission by unanimous consent Thursday evening.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is seeking input from market participants on whether it should collect pre-trade pricing information from broker-dealers and make it available over its online EMMA system.

Alternative trading system operator BondDesk has teamed up with market information company Fabkom to distribute bid-wanted requests in a move the companies said will help retail investors get better prices.

The Senate Finance Committee's top Republican said Wednesday that Detroit's bankruptcy filing and Chicago's pension problems illustrate the need for legislation he has proposed that would allow state and local governments to turn to move from defined benefit plans to life insurance company annual annuities.

President Obama described a pro-growth tax reform and jobs package during a speech in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Tuesday, but many of the municipal bond-related measures proposed were ones he unveiled earlier.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday named new officers and board members who will assume their posts Oct. 1.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Tuesday announced its officers and Board of Directors members who will begin their terms on October 1, 2013. Daniel Heimowitz, Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, will serve as Chair of the MSRB. Joseph J. Geraci, Managing Director and Co-Head of Municipal Markets at Citi, will serve as Vice Chair.

For the first time, the SEC has charged an issuer, an underwriter, and one of its officials with falsely claiming in bond documents that the issuer was meeting its secondary market disclosure obligations when it wasn't.

Twelve dealer firms are asking the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to adopt further restrictions on bond ballot contributions by broker-dealers, and each of those firms has pledged a two-year moratorium on making any such contributions related to bonds they seek to underwrite.