Law and regulation

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will issue two concept releases next month, one seeking public comment on whether to develop a best execution rule and another requesting input on enhancing post-trade data reporting and developing standards for collecting pre-trade information.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is proposing a new "execution-with-diligence" standard for municipal trading that would require a dealer to use "reasonable diligence" to determine the market for a bond so the price it provides to a customer is "fair and reasonable under prevailing market conditions."

The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal for money market funds to use floating net asset values could cost state and local governments millions dollars and force them to abandon MMF investments, market participants and a new study asserted Thursday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging reporters and members of the public to go to its EMMA online website for information on Detroit's bonds and the municipal securities market in general.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Miami, Fla. signals the commission's seriousness about both upholding prior cease and desist orders and holding public officials accountable, market participants said.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Monday that in the wake of Detroit's bankruptcy filing, investors need to be mindful that not all general obligation bonds carry the same level of security in the event of issuer insolvency.

Dealer groups are concerned provisions of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed rules on retail order periods could be burdensome, while independent financial advisors say the rules will be almost useless without a definition of "retail."

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association warned Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder that the approach he is backing in Detroit's bankruptcy will cost cities across the state and urged him to uphold the city's unlimited-tax general obligation bond pledge.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board launched a new service on Monday that will allow state and local municipal bond issuers to schedule automated emails that will remind them of their self-imposed deadlines for filing annual and quarterly financial disclosures.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit Friday against Miami, Fla. and the city's former budget director, charging them with securities fraud for making faulty disclosures in connection with three 2009 bond offerings totaling $153.5 million.

Pressure is mounting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to complete its rulemaking defining municipal advisors, with congressional aides saying a House panel will likely hold a hearing on potentially preemptive legislation after the August recess.

The Senate Banking Committee unanimously agreed to recommend the full Senate confirm Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar as Securities and Exchange Commission members and approve chairman Mary Jo White to serve a full term.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, at its quarterly meeting in Boston next week, will consider whether to create a rule to crackdown on front running as well as request comments on applying best execution practices in municipal bond.

The Senate Banking Committee will meet Thursday to vote on whether to recommend the Senate confirm two nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A Virginia circuit court is preparing to reconsider Fluvanna County's lawsuit against financial advisor Davenport & Co., after the state supreme court rejected the firm's motion for a rehearing of the state Supreme Court's decision to reverse a ruling that had favored it.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined four firms $106,000 and fined and suspended an individual for municipal securities rule violations.

A Financial Industry Regulatory hearing panel has suspended former broker Anthony Grey for two years, fined him $30,000, and ordered him to disgorge $16,000 in ill-gotten gains for routing muni bond trades through his personal accounts before selling them, through his firm, to retail customers at excessive markups.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Wednesday it will launch a tool to help issuers keep track of the dates they must file periodic financial disclosures to its EMMA website. But some question whether this will cause a dispute between the MSRB and Digital Assurance Certification.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA system received more than 500,000 continuing disclosure documents from municipal securities issuers or their agents between July 2009 and March 2013, the board reported Wednesday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would ease the standard of independence for its board.