Law and regulation

The SEC’s proposal to obtain more information disclosures on bank loans, placements and other financing alternatives to municipal bonds could affect leases, guarantees, derivatives and certain monetary obligations.

The MSRB has draft amendments to its Rule G-34 on CUSIP numbers to clarify requirements and clear up misunderstandings.

SEC Commissioners gave the green light on Wednesday for the staff to propose two new amendments to Rule 15c2-12 that would require issuers and borrowers to disclose certain information about bank loans and private placements, which are increasingly used alternatives to publicly offered muni bonds.

Mark Kim from DC Water will become Lynnette Kelly's No. 2 at MSRB, while Lakshmi Kommi of the City of San Diego will replace him on the MSRB's board of directors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will weigh two amendments to required material event notices under its Rule 15c2-12 during a meeting on March 1 that may include discussion of adding bank loans and private placements to the 14-item event list.

Six holders of municipal revenue bonds underwritten by Christopher Brogdon are trying to recover as much as $1 million in lost capital as well as other expenses from bond trustee BOK Financial Securities.

Morgan Stanley will pay a $115,000 fine and $55,284 in restitution after FINRA found the firm engaged in muni transactions where it charged prices that were not fair or reasonable.

Christopher Morrill, Roanoke, Va.’s city manager, will replace Jeff Esser in May as GFOA executive director as municipal issuers face "challenging times."

Julie Egan, the new chair of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, wants to increase NFMA’s visibility in the municipal market in 2017 and push regulators for more improvements to muni disclosure.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is asking for comments both on draft amendments to its current dealer advertising rule that would harmonize it with other regulators’ rules as well as on a proposed rule that would extend many of those dealer provisions to municipal advisors.