Law and regulation

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released three new educational videos explaining what investors should expect from their brokers when buying or selling municipal securities.

Dealer groups said Tuesday that they support Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed rule changes on retail order periods, but non-dealer financial advisors warn issuers can be exploited, with underwriters simply determining for them which "retail" investors can buy the bonds in offerings.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board filed rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday that are designed to ensure underwriters follow issuers' orders that a certain amount of their bonds be offered to retail investors at the initial offering price.

Two broker dealers were fined a total of $62,500 for municipal bond fair pricing and trade reporting violations, while two individuals were fined $35,000 and suspended for violating other muni rules, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said Monday.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts is working on several new issue and disclosure initiatives geared to helping issuers navigate debt transactions.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging investors and dealers to examine the redemption provisions of Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds so they can determine if the bonds' market value could be affected by a redemption stemming from a sequestration-mandated cut in subsidy payments to the issuer.

Dealers generally like the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed rules governing sophisticated municipal market professionals, which need less protection than retail investors, but are seeking some clarifications and suggesting the rules expanded to cover small hedge funds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Wednesday that it has added an experienced securities lawyer, Michael L. Post, to its roster as a deputy general counsel.

The Government Finance Officers Association is developing a new best practice paper on bank loan issues following the recent industry report about bank loan disclosures.

Broker-dealers charged billions of dollars in excessive markups on municipal bond trades from 2005 to 2013, according to a new study.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a rule to establish a database for 529 college savings plans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking market participants to help it craft a definition of retail money market funds as part of a set of reforms that it proposed Wednesday.

Securities and Exchange Commission members on Wednesday unanimously agreed to propose reforms for money market funds, which muni market participants greeted with mixed reaction.

The GASB on Monday approved a proposed exposure draft on measurements for government financial statements and a preliminary views document on fair value accounting measurements.

Panelists at a conference here on Monday warned issuer officials to be wary of dealer contracts that might violate municipal securities rules and to make sure they are using properly registered municipal advisors.

Underwriter disclosure letters required under the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's fair dealing rule continue to cause confusion and apprehension among issuers, members of the Government Finance Officer's Association's debt committee said at a meeting on Saturday.

Issuer officials expressed trepidation Saturday about upcoming Securities and Exchange Commission rulemaking and the prospects of SEC bringing more disclosure-based enforcement cases against them.

The securities and investment community gave almost a half million dollars to a former freshman on the House Financial Services Committee who authored bills to restrict Dodd-Frank Act-mandated rules that would apply to municipal advisors and derivatives, according to data compiled by opensecrets.org.

In a precedent-setting action, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether underwriters are fulfilling their obligations to determine if issuers are complying with their continuing disclosure requirements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved revisions that will tighten the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's rule on telemarketing so that it require dealers, among other things, to respect customers "do not call" requests indefinitely rather than for just five years.