Law and regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission staff released a report Thursday showing some nationally-recognized rating agencies failed to disclose or manage conflicts of interest and changed rating methodologies for securities without disclose the changes until months later.

The Securities and Exchange Commission received 64 whistleblower tips about possible securities law violations in connection with municipal securities and pensions during fiscal 2012, which ended Sept. 30.

Municipal Market Advisors and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association say that a federal decision delaying implementation of Basel III standards for banks is a positive for U.S. municipal bonds.

Federal banking regulators on Wednesday were unable to say when they might finalize rules under the international Basel III accord that would require banks to increase the capital backing their assets and change the way they determine the riskiness of their investments and loans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed 17 municipal securities-related enforcement actions during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, more than twice the number filed in fiscal 2011, the commission announced yesterday.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has proposed regulatory reforms for money market mutual funds similar to those advocated by Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro.

Early next week the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will launch MyEMMA, a free online service that will allow users of the MSRB's EMMA system to customize municipal securities searches and email alerts.

Hurricane Sandy may demonstrate to lawmakers the importance of tax-exempt financing and promote opposition to proposals that threaten munis’ tax exemption.

The MSRB, to boost trade transparency, announced that the par amount of trades of less than $5 million will now be posted on the EMMA system in real time.

Muni groups have warned that a plan by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation to change fees collected to register new municipal securities would raise issuers' costs and disproportionately affect small state and local governments.

State and local government muni bond issuers whose pension obligations could either affect their ability to pay debt service or hurt their financial condition should consider disclosing more pension information in their official statements, the Government Finance Officers Association said in a new best practice document.

Municipal market participants are split over whether a proposal to tighten oversight of retail-order periods should specifically define types of orders that qualify as "retail."

Stratford Shields, managing director in Chicago at Morgan Stanley, has been elected chair of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's Municipal Securities Division for a two year term, SIFMA announced Friday in a media release.

The Securities and Exchange Commission would impinge on the sovereignty of state and local governments if granted authority requested in its July 31 report on the municipal market, the Government Finance Officers Association is warning.

Lawyers for three former bankers convicted in May of rigging bids for municipal bond contracts have filed appeal notices with an appellate court. The appeals were filed late last week with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan by attorneys for Dominick Carollo, Steven E. Goldberg, and Peter Grimm, former employees at General Electric Co. affiliates.

The MSRB plans to study the idea of restricting, or possibly banning, contributions to bond-ballot campaigns by muni bond dealers.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today issued a statement saying she is pleased that the nation’s securities markets were able to open Wednesday despite the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to propose regulations that would require dealers to disclose more information about contributions to bond-ballot campaigns.

Eighteen muni market groups are urging the Obama administration to exempt Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds from sequestration.

Market participants whose electronic systems have been affected by Hurricane Sandy may want to notify the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.