Law and regulation

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined five firms nearly $200,000 for violations of municipal securities rules, and ordered that they pay many thousands more in customer restitution.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented its 29th annual industry awards during its annual conference dinner in San Diego earlier this month.

The House is likely to vote Friday on legislation that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of any new regulations, a move Democrats see as a bid to weaken financial reform.

Reps. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., and Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, have sent a letter to new Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White urging her to make sure that the SEC's final definition of municipal advisor reflects their bill, which is pending before the House Financial Services Committee.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts presented Excellence in Disclosure awards to four issuers at a dinner at its annual conference in San Diego May 2.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's revised suitability rule should include dealer obligations to sophisticated municipal market professionals and suitability requirements for 529 college savings plans, according to comments received by the MSRB Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website will now display both the initial offering dollar price and yield for a bond, when available, the MSRB announced today.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it has charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for making misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating.

The largest trend facing the municipal world right now is efforts on multiple fronts to become more transparent, according to speakers at a Wednesday panel at the National Federation of Municipal Analyst's annual conference.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is requesting comments on a proposal to consolidate current fair dealing rule guidance into two stand-alone rules defining sophisticated municipal market professionals and laying out dealer obligations to them.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Wednesday that former board member Milroy A. Alexander has rejoined the group as a public representative through Sept. 30 due to some shuffling in the wake of board member Peter Taylor's resignation.

A municipal bond market task force issued a paper on Wednesday urging state and local issuers and conduit borrowers to consider voluntarily disclosing certain information about bank loans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and underwriter Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios, charging them with defrauding investors by inflating valuations of property in connection with a 2008 bond offering.

Some Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board members are concerned about dealer financial advisory contracts with issuers that appear to disclaim away the dealers' legal and regulatory obligations, MSRB chair Jay Goldstone said Friday after the board's meeting at its headquarters in Alexandria. Va.

Municipal exchange traded funds have become part of the municipal market product mix, but should be part of an overall investment program and not solely relied upon, Municipal Market Advisors said in a white paper tracing the evolution of ETFs from 2007 through 2012.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has updated its guidance for individual municipal bond investors by urging them to ask brokers questions about issuer disclosures and bond insurer ratings.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's John Cross told attendees at a Bond Buyer Conference Monday that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's G-17 guidance has helped craft the long-awaited municipal advisor rule.

The Virginia Supreme Court has reinstated Fluvanna County, Va.'s lawsuit against Davenport & Co. LLC, which seeks damages for state and federal security law violations the county claims the firm committed while serving as its financial advisor.

George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney have been named co-directors of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division — the first time the SEC will has had two leaders of the group.

Frank Shafroth on Friday left the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, where he was director of legislative affairs and intergovernmental relationships, to focus on his post at George Mason University.