Law and regulation

The MSRB has asked market participants how to improve the timeliness, fairness and efficiency of price transparency in the muni market, and whether dealers should be required to report trades in less time than the currently-required 15 minutes from execution.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher said Wednesday that many improvements to the municipal securities market can be made by the SEC without seeking regulatory authority over municipal issuers from Congress.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has extended the deadline for submitting comments on proposed regulations of money market mutual funds to Feb. 15 from Jan. 18.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered nine firms to pay a total of $297,500 in fines and nearly $32,000 in restitution for violating rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Two former bankers, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm, at an affiliate of General Electric Co. have contested a Justice Department request that they pay $6.9 million in restitution for their role in a scheme to rig bids for municipal bond reinvestment contracts.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has postponed action on a plan to increase fees for municipal securities with multiple CUSIPs pending discussions with municipal market groups, said a DTCC spokesperson.

Robert Khuzami plans to leave the Securities and Exchange Commission after serving as its enforcement director for four years, the SEC announced Wednesday.

Timothy Ryan, president and chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, plans to leave the group on Feb. 23, SIFMA announced Tuesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority assessed financial firms and individuals $68 million in fines in 2012 and ordered them to pay a record $34 million in restitution to investors, the regulator announced Tuesday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported annual revenue of $39.9 million for the fiscal year ending in September, a 19% gain over last year's $33.5 million, according to the board's annual report, released Tuesday.

The Government Finance Officers Association has hired Dustin T. McDonald, former senior public affairs advisor at law firm Holland & Knight LLP, to succeed Susan Gaffney as director of the group's federal liaison center.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Monday launched its search for seven new board of directors who will serve three-year terms starting Oct. 1. The board consists of 21 members who serve for three years on a staggered basis, so that seven roll off every year and are replaced.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts announced Friday four new officers on its board if directors, including new chair Jeffrey Burger, portfolio manager at Standish Mellon Asset Management Co. in Boston.

Market participants mostly support a revised proposal by the MSRB that would require primary distributors or underwriters of 529 savings plans to submit information to the MSRB, but urged the board to keep information confidential and to consider additional changes.

Market participants wonder if the Justice Department will indict more firms and individuals for bid-rigging of bond-related investment and derivatives contracts.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered five firms to pay $4.48 million for unfairly using bond proceeds to pay reimburse themselves for membership fees they paid to the California Public Securities Association, a lobbying group.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday issued an Investor Bulletin designed to help buyers of municipal bonds better understand bonds' credit risks.

Political division in the leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission could slow the agency's ability to advance a host of municipal market-related measures in 2013, say some market participants.

The SEC approved rule changes that would allow underwriters to fulfill some new-issue reporting requirements by filing information with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s New Issue Information Dissemination Service, or NIIDS.

U.S. attorneys asked a federal judge Monday to order former executives of a General Electric Co. affiliate to pay $6.9 million in restitution to municipal bond issuers for rigging bids on municipal bond reinvestment contracts.