Law and regulation

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.

The SEC's request to impose corporate-style registration and disclosure requirements on certain conduit borrowers may not affect those that are responsible for most defaults, data shows.

Providers of municipal market data met with Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board staff Thursday to discuss concerns that municipal market participants do not adequately understand muni market indices.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed rule changes Wednesday that would require dealers to disclose more details about their contributions to bond ballot campaigns.

Municipal market participants have mixed opinions about the benefits and burdens of a proposal to restrict the ability of underwriters to consent to bond-document changes.

Attorneys for Miami have proposed a settlement to head off federal civil charges proposed by Securities and Exchange Commission, which filed a similar case against the city in the 1990s.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released a proposal Thursday aimed at increasing protection for retail investors who trade municipal bonds online.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts released updated disclosure recommendations for issuers of variable-rate demand obligations and other short-term securities on Wednesday.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has asked financial industry participants and members of the public for suggestions about legislative alternatives to the so-called Volcker Rule.

The MSRB has drafted a new rule G-45 that would require underwriters or other primary distributors of Section 529 college savings plans to provide detailed information about these plans to the board’s EMMA system on a quarterly basis. But the board would not disseminate the data fight now.

Regulatory efforts to improve municipal bond pricing transparency have resulted in lower prices paid by retail buyers of muni bonds, according to preliminary results of a study on muni pricing and trading being conducted by Erik Sirri, former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's trading and markets division.

John Cross, the associate tax legislative counsel in the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, is to become director of the SEC's new Office of Municipal Securities in September.

MSRB has sent a two-page letter to nine organizations requesting a meeting.

A diverse group of municipal market participants has criticized the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's recent concept release related to third-party payments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named John J. Cross, 3rd, the head of its Office of Municipal Securities.

A House Financial Services Committee panel approved a bill Wednesday that would exempt municipal advisors from having a federal fiduciary duty to place muni issuers' interests first, but lawmakers said the bill's final version will leave the fiduciary requirement in place.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Wednesday announced the seven individuals who will join its 21-member board of directors on Oct. 1 for three-year terms.

A breakdown of legislative recommendations for congress and of regulatory recommendations for the SEC and MSRB to consider.