Law and regulation

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell late Monday filed for cloture on the Puerto Rico rescue bill currently waiting for Senate consideration, setting up a procedural vote for as soon as Wednesday morning.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced on Monday that its EMMA system now includes an economic calendar that gives visitors free access to dates and descriptions of upcoming macroeconomic developments that could impact the municipal market.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew added to the pressure for quick passage of a Puerto Rico rescue bill in a letter to the Senate leadership on Monday, even as some public finance professionals maintain the bill is unnecessary and could be harmful for the commonwealth.

Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., plans to introduce legislation during the week of June 27 to clarify that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipal Advisor Rule does not require municipal issuers to hire municipal advisors in order to issue bonds.

Dealer groups are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to cut in half a proposed requirement that would mandate municipal securities transactions to be closed out within 20 days of settlement.

Ohio filed the first offering document for a potential new type of municipal fund security based on tax-advantaged savings accounts that help support individuals with disabilities, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Tuesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with a former Chicago charter school operator over charges that he negligently approved and signed a misleading official statement for a $37.5 million bond offering to build three charter schools.

As we await the final shoe to drop with regard to the SEC's MCDC initiative, the municipal market may be at a turning point in terms of disclosure.

Richards, Merrill & Peterson has agreed to pay a $45,000 penalty for trading below the minimum denomination and North Star Investment Services will pay $15,000 for municipal trade reporting failures under settlements with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a revised content outline for its permanent municipal advisor qualification exam that covers newly approved advisor rules.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is urging states to adopt policies that ensure issuers meet their disclosure requirements and provide investors with relevant information.

Legislation to require California issuers to provide significantly more information about their bond payments and uses of proceeds appears to be marching toward passage.

The Government Finance Officers Association has issued an alert urging members to be ready for conversations with their counsel and quick turnarounds of settlements under the Securities and Exchange Commission's program to voluntarily self-report continuing disclosure violations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is "very focused" on examining whether there were any securities law violations involving Puerto Rico bonds as the commonwealth's fiscal situation deteriorated over the last few years, SEC chair Mary Jo White told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

In a first of a kind case, two California-based municipal advisory firms and their executives agreed to pay a total of $200,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that they used deceptive business practices in dealing with five school districts.

Attorney Robert W. Cook has been tapped by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s board of governors to become chief executive officer of FINRA during the second half of the year.

U.S. banks' holdings of municipal bonds increased to $507.5 billion in the first quarter of 2016, a 1.7% gain from the $499 billion of holdings in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The full Senate is expected to take up the Puerto Rico bill passed by the House and vote on it before the end of the month or in early July.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its Rule 15c2-12 on municipal bond disclosure and provide more guidance in this area.

The Government Finance Officers Association has released a five-page primer on municipal advisor rules that should be entitled, “Everything you need to know about these rules and how they affect issuers.”