Law and regulation

What's Going on the Week of April 22

Securities and Exchange Commission member Dan Gallagher on Thursday tried to explain his recent warning that retail bondholders in the muni market, already wary their municipal securities may not have priority in a bankruptcy proceeding, are likely to face an Armageddon if interest rates rise.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the chief executive officer of a Chicago-based advisory firm with lying to the California Public Employers' Retirement System and other clients about the amount of money managed by the firm.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will consider next week comments received on a proposal to require underwriters to disclose preliminary official statements and a proposal to create a new rule governing sophisticated municipal market professionals.

Securities and Exchange Commission commissioners and panelists at a roundtable Tuesday wrestled with how to improve the transparency of municipal bond trading and prices, particularly for retail investors.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., has introduced legislation granting commercial banks an exemption from municipal advisor registration under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a firm $37,500 for trade and books and records violations, and a broker $5,000, giving him a four-month suspension, for telling a customer he redeemed bonds rather than sold them without the customer's permission.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has published an introductory guide to its Electronic Municipal Market Access, or EMMA, website for state and local issuers of municipal bonds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities will shrink to two members after attorney Dave Sanchez departs April 19.

Federal Regulators have been dropping in on non-dealer financial advisors for examinations that have sometimes lasted days, sources said Thursday.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts said Wednesday they have filed an amicus curiae brief in California Superior Court in support of a lawsuit filed by insurer Syncora Guarantee over laws extinguishing redevelopment agencies in the state.

The Bond Dealers of America have hired Urban Swirski and Associates to advocate for the group's legislative and policy priorities, BDA announced Wednesday.

Mary Jo White has been sworn in as the new chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC announced Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's April 16 fixed-income markets roundtable will include regulators and representatives from most municipal market groups, the SEC announced Tuesday.

Contracts between dealer firms and public officials show that dealers are engaging in wordplay in an apparent attempt to avoid duties and restrictions placed on them by both federal statute and MSRB rulemaking.

Former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on Monday to serve as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will hold an on-the-record briefing about municipal securities at a National Press Club luncheon on May 8 to attempt to educate a wider audience of journalists about the municipal market.

Iowa state auditor David Vaudt was named the next chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, succeeding current chairman Robert Attmore.