Law and regulation

Dealers are criticizing a proposed standalone minimum denomination rule from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, saying it would hamper liquidity and hurt investors by limiting the liquidity of below-minimum denomination positions in municipal securities.

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.

The Government Finance Officers Association’s executive board has approved a series of new and revised best practices that make recommendations to issuers about refundings, investing their public funds, and procuring financial services.

Municipal market analysts are concerned that Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board data shows more issuers are giving themselves 270 days after the end of their fiscal years to file annual financial information.

House Financial Services Committee Republicans have floated a revised version of a their Financial CHOICE Act that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to review municipal market and other self-regulatory organizations' inefficiencies as well as reform its enforcement process

Mike Sudsina, managing partner of Vermillion, Ohio-based Sudsina & Associates, has replaced Larry Kidwell as president of the National Association of Municipal Advisors.

House and Senate members have reintroduced companion bills that would allow state and local governments to issue up to $5 billion of private activity bonds to finance the repair or construction of schools and other public buildings under public-private partnership arrangements.

The House Financial Services Committee intends to review municipal bond regulators and other aspects of the capital markets with an eye toward rolling back certain programs, according to an oversight plan from the committee.

Market participants and others signed up for email alerts from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA website can now specify the types of continuing disclosure filings they would like to be notified of related to the securities they choose to follow.

Long-term municipal bond issuance is expected to fall to $417.5 billion this year from $423.8 billion last year, according to a survey released by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association on Wednesday.

Julie Egan, senior vice president and portfolio manager with Community Capital Management, is the new chair for the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, the group announced Tuesday.