Law and regulation

Public interest and other groups scrambled to send letters to lawmakers opposing a municipal advisor bill they fear will roll back critical components of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Municipal analysts and other muni market participants are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to strengthen a proposal to tighten bond-ballot campaign contribution reporting requirements for dealers.

Fewer than 10% of general-obligation bond issuers filed annual audited financial reports within the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's recommended 120-day period in 2011, according to a report from muni research firm Merritt Research Services LLC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board launched a series of free online training videos Thursday to help dealers and issuers submit primary- and secondary-market disclosures to the board's EMMA system.

Government officials are on a path to regulating municipal advisors, but real reform won't come until issuers demand higher standards from their advisors, a market observer is warning.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a municipal advisor bill Wednesday after striking a requirement that MAs have written agreements with issuers, one of the bill's most contentious provisions.

While dealers are pushing for a House committee to approve a pending municipal advisor bill, non-dealer advisors oppose the bill, claiming it contains too many loopholes that would allow firms to engage in advisory activities without being regulated.

State treasurers voted Monday to urge Moody's Investors Service to carefully consider the consequences of its proposed changes to analyzing public-sector pension data, warning it will muddy already complicated pension issues for the public and financial markets.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has expanded its online guide for municipal bond issuers with new resources, including "EMMA Trade Monitor," a service that allows issuers to download secondary-market trade data to desktop computers.

A pending municipal advisor bill that has been amended to more precisely define the term and to leave a statutorily-mandated federal fiduciary duty in place, could be voted on by the a House committee as early as next week, according to sources.

The SEC could address muni market sectors with the most defaults if Congress gives it authority to enhance municipal issuers' disclosure practices, SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter said in a recent interview.

Some broker-dealer firms appear to have violated the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's Rule G-37 by engaging in negotiated muni business with issuers within two years after their municipal finance professionals made significant contributions to officials of those issuers, the SEC said Friday.

Moody's Investors Service has expanded its review for potentially downgrading Miami to include pension obligations and health care costs in addition to pending SEC charges.

The Internal Revenue Service has stepped up its efforts to investigate possible misconduct in the municipal bond sector, more than doubling the number of examinations it conducts per year.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro may have lost the first round in her push to reform the $2.6 trillion money market mutual fund industry, but the fight has only just begun.

Pre-trade reporting of muni bond prices by "alternative trading systems" could improve liquidity in the muni market. Or, such reporting could make liquidity worse. Market participants aren't sure which.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed proposed rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require the exact par value of trades up to $5 million to be reported over EMMA on a near-real time basis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will not pursue regulations aimed reducing the susceptibility of money market mutual funds to market runs, SEC chairman Mary Schapiro said in a statement Wednesday night.

The number of continuing disclosures muni bond issuers filed with the MSRB continues to increase, with issuers submitting 139,043 documents in the 12-months ending June 2012, according to a report released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — This isn't the first time the Securities and Exchange Commission's has had conduit bonds in their cross hairs.