Law and regulation

SIFMA is releasing for comment draft riders to model bond documents for issue price rules, including one that would allow underwriters to revoke bids in competitive sales.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a joint motion in Rhode Island federal court on Wednesday asking the presiding judge to approve a final settlement over the RICC's involvement in a fraudulent private placement.

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.

Market participants gathered at The Bond Buyer and Bond Dealers of America’s National Municipal Bond Summit expressed concerns with the broad nature of the SEC’s proposal to add two material events to Rule 15c2-12 that would also emphasize the need to make materiality determinations.

The SEC wants a Puerto Rico federal court to agree that Jose Ramirez, a former UBS Puerto Rico employee, engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in closed-end funds with large investments in Puerto Rico bonds.

Five firms have agreed to pay a total of nearly $920,000 to settle separate rule violations related to municipal securities.

Lawyers gathered at NABL’s Tax and Securities Law Institute on Friday said a carve out in the MSRB’s recent clarification on requiring CUSIPs for private placements would be beneficial to the market.

Lawyers at NABL’s TSLI conference on Thursday said that while the SEC’s proposed amendments to its list of material events are well-meaning, they would be burdensome for issuers dealing with the numerous new disclosure obligations.

The Senate Banking Committee’s scheduled hearing on Jay Clayton’s nomination is expected to include some questions from Democrats on Clayton’s ties to Wall Street and ability to protect investors.

A guilty plea from Aaron Troodler, the former executive director of the Ramapo Local Development Corp., for criminal securities fraud means he could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has released criteria that will generally require the top five firms submitting to certain of the self-regulator’s systems to participate in Securities and Exchange Commission-mandated business continuity and disaster recovery plan testing.