Law and regulation

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms $76,500 for violating rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is requesting feedback on, among other things, whether its rules impose undue burdens on market participants, and how those burdens could be alleviated.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo will pay municipal bond issuers a total of nearly $78 million to settle a civil class-action lawsuit claiming the banks manipulated bidding for guaranteed investment contracts.

Bond Dealers of America reminded lawmakers Thursday that the so-called Volcker Rule could restrict liquidity in the muni bond market and raise issuers' costs.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking has proposed requiring underwriters to file issuers' preliminary official statements on the EMMA system in an effort to boost pre-trade transparency in the new-issue muni market.

The outgoing Massachusetts Democrat, whose personal investments included roughly $900,000 of municipal bonds last year, says there's little reason for regulators to tighten oversight of general-obligation bonds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has changed how it calculates "bid to cover" ratios for auction-rate securities to make the data more indicative of investor demand.

In response to a spate of municipal bankruptcies and ongoing fiscal challenges at the local level, the California Treasurer's office has embarked on a project aimed at predicting cities' likelihood of defaulting on bonds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will request public comments on its roughly 300-page rule book in December, part of a multi-year review to ensure its rules are effective, efficient and reflect changing market conditions.

A diverse group of associations with ties to the municipal bond market expect to publish a paper early next year that will give state and local governments guidance on how and when to disclose loans they receive direct from banks.

MSRB: Dealers to Report Contractual Dollar Price of Interdealer Trades By March 29

The incoming and outgoing chairmen of the House Financial Services Committee — Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Spencer Bachus, respectively — are urging banking regulators to delay implementation of the Volcker Rule until 2015.

The MSRB said today it will change how it calculates bid-to-cover ratios for auction rate securities, one day after the chief executive officer of a Manhattan-based financial advisory firm urged reforms.

The MSRB has revised a draft rule that would require underwriters of 529 college savings plans to file certain plan-related data once or twice a year, instead of quarterly.

President Obama has designated Elisse B. Walter, a leading proponent of increased regulatory oversight of the municipal bond industry, as the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, effective Dec. 14.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro has announced she will leave her post Dec. 14.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has proposed including two more exceptions in draft rules that would limit underwriters' ability to consent to changes in muni bond authorizing documents.

Trading in the $3.7 trillion municipal securities market continued to decrease in the third quarter of 2012, according to market statistics released Nov. 20 by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

In response to new GASB standards, the Government Finance Officers Association wants to give state and local governments guidelines on how to craft sound pension funding policies.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three Chicago-based firms a total of $40,000 for violations of muni trade reporting and other rules.