Law and regulation

R. Seelaus & Co., Carty & Co., and Emmet & Co. have agreed to pay a total of $83,000 to settle separate charges by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority related to unfair markups, trading below the minimum denomination, and trade reporting failures involving municipal securities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board must now have at least one municipal advisor representative board member present to constitute a quorum under a rule change it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement division’s heightened attention on the municipal market and application of new legal techniques to that enforcement are “here to stay,” according to the commission’s top cop, Andrew Ceresney.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to finalize new open-end fund liquidity requirements that market participants said would hurt the industry by damaging the funds' appetites for munis.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced on Wednesday that it is seeking input from market participants on where to focus its long-term strategic plan and specifically how it can improve its EMMA system.

Municipal advisors face growing concern that some activities they could pursue to help clients make private placements might land them in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Larry Kidwell, president of Brentwood, Tenn.- based Kidwell and Company, has been elected as the new president of the National Association of Municipal Advisors.

Securities and Exchange Commission examinations of municipal advisors over the past two years found fiduciary duty and fair dealing violations, said SEC officials who cautioned the number of MA exams will increase in 2017.

Dealer groups are warning that a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to require dealers to disclose their markups and markdowns in certain transactions would be overly complex and hurt liquidity.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing amendments that would outline minimum standards for municipal advisors' continuing education requirements.

As the new chair of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Oct. 1, Colleen Woodell hopes the board will begin new initiatives on syndicate practices and pre-trade price transparency during her one-year term.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to propose an amendment to one of its rules that would shorten the standard settlement cycle for most bond and other securities transactions to two instead of three days after the trade date.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts is urging charter schools to provide detailed financial, academic, and staffing information in primary and secondary disclosure documents.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed on Tuesday to create a standalone minimum denomination rule that would revise current and proposed requirements because of dealer complaints.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has improved its EMMA system to make it easier for issuers to disclose bank loans and other alternative financings after state and local officials complained the process was too confusing and seemed to lose some of these disclosures.

Former state and local officials on a House Financial Services Committee panel raised concerns Thursday about the lack of transparency of fees in municipal bond deals and the tendency by dealers to push for more negotiated than competitive bond transactions.

Dealers are struggling with how to comply with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed markup disclosure requirements and whether they can create computer programs or rely on pricing services for compliance.

Municipal market participants at The Bond Buyer's California Public Finance Conference shared concrete examples of how disclosure is improving in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission's continuing disclosure voluntary enforcement initiative.

About 680 firms, with 4,500 associated professionals, were registered as municipal advisors as of September, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s chairman told House and Senate committee leaders in a letter detailing the board’s compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act.

Stark Municipal Brokers and Performance Trust Capital Partners have agreed to pay a combined $25,000 over reporting violations uncovered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and a former chief executive officer of an Atlanta-based securities company has agreed to be barred from the market in a FINRA action that involves alleged securities fraud.